Blogs by cribbooky

For some strange reason, corporations only allow their stockholders to determine its leadership. Directors are chosen to manage and make the important decisions that will ultimately decide the health and success of these companies. When the leaders make bad decisions that are bad for the company, the shareholders vote and replace them with new leadership until they find something that works or the company fails. This system is highly elitist because it only allows the people that are capable of investing to make the decisions. There are many other people in the world that would be very happy to participate in making these decisions, but they are currently prevented from doing so. This practice is obviously mean and unfair!

How did things get this way? Imagine if America was run like this? America's founding fathers were fair men who truly understood freedom, which is the reason the constitution granted everyone the right to vote. Okay. Not quite everyone. It's true that women and African Americans could not vote for almost two hundred years until there were some amendments to the Constitution and changes to other laws, but that's no reason to suspect that the original laws might need to be re-examined to reflect the modern times. Okay, there have been some slight changes since then like income taxes, many huge social welfare programs and explosive government growth and spending, but let's not nitpick here. Things in our country are just fine except for those darn unfair investment laws.

Instead of only letting the shareholders with a stake in the companies vote for the leadership, business models and policies, I suggest that each business should let EVERYONE choose its leaders, business models and policies. Just think of the potential here! Everyone could decide that the prices should be lowered, and then go buy all that stuff really cheap. We could rally up the masses and vote ourselves some fat paychecks too. We could pick some really good looking people to run companies instead of those old farts with business experience. It would be an idealistic, friendly business utopia where even competitors could decide how a company is run. No one gets left out, and the business world would be a beautiful place because fairness and freedom would be put first.

I am certain that my proposal will be met by the typical nay-sayers, but I can demonstrate the brilliance of my idea by clearly demonstrating how wrong the business investment model actually is. Try to imagine if Americans could only vote if they were true tax payers, where only the "priviledged few" that actually toil to support the government were allowed to choose its direction? That could never work, right? It would be un-American. It would violate the laws and principles laid down by the founding fathers of our country. The next thing you know, they would be taking away the voting rights from women and African Americans again, and we would be right back where we started, or something like that.

Some would say that such a change is too radical, but to them I say that steps have already been taken in this direction, and the lines are already starting to blur. Right now, the government is giving TRILLIONS of tax payer dollars to failing businesses. This embraces the principles of my idea. The businesses lost tons of money through poor management, the investors suffered the brunt of these losses, and the government directed tax payer money (tens of thousands per tax payer) to save the businesses (not the investors). We must have agreed to it because it is happening, and it is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Now I know a lot of people, especially the shareholders, are probably a little skeptical about whether my idea could work in practice, as it clearly does in theory. How could a company attract and retain investors under this new paradigm to meet the capital needs? If investors would have no power, and their investment money was doomed to be spent recklessly, how can we still count on them to participate? These investors should be proud to support these idealistic companies in the same spirit that tax payers are proud to support the government spending for the ever growing, less fortunate masses (hey, there's a funny coincidence, expanding government and expanding poverty, hmmmm). If for some reason the investors should decide to start investing less under the new system, then prison sentences, men with guns and the power to seize and freeze assets can really adjust the attitudes of uncooperative investors. There are some really nice wells to tap too. There are people and companies with billions in assets that could be put to better use. Since everyone would be voting on how this confiscated wealth is spent, it could only be called fair, right? If those elitists don't like it, they can take their money and go live and invest in some other country. That will teach them.

Once we have addressed the obvious unfair practices of business investment, we should also seek to remove other obvious biases that still exist for American voters. Right now children are not allowed to vote. Are they not Americans? They are the little citizens of tomorrow, and I bet they could introduce some really fun leaders into our great government, and achieve our foremost goal of truly ideal suffrage at any cost.

Be nice.