A Nation of 'Two Heads': The Government vs. The Multi-Headed Medusa of Powerful Industries

As we have witnessed the endless twists of health care and financial reforms this year, my impression on this country’s politics is, this country is not “One-Headed.”

The United States of America is more like a nation of “Two Heads”: the “Government” and the “Industrial Medusa” that consists of many small heads of powerful industries and their bands of lobbyists, including financial, pharmaceutical, health care, oil industries. The Government has the role of policing the nation; the Industrial Medusa manipulates the Government, media, and the public to set the social structure in their favor, in ways to minimize the nation’s regulations on them and maximize their money earning, profits at any costs, even at the destruction of their country and economy which nurture, feed them with money.

Over the last decades, it has been this “Industrial Medusa” that has won the game with the Government by manipulating, bribing, dominating it to structure this country’s social, economic structure best for their benefits. Taking undeserved money from the public through malicious business practices means that the public is losing money and becoming poorer. Loose or few government regulations on this Industrial Medusa has caused the misallocation of money resources in this society that has been drained from middle and poor classes’ pocket money for living necessities and poured into industrial riches’ pockets to support their unprecedented luxurious lifestyle. The outcomes of Industrial Medusa’s social misconducts have been not only the current short/mid-term recession but also disappearing middle class, deepening poverty of low-income class, and the weakening US industrial structure and competitiveness in world markets. This is exactly what has happened in this country and will continue so if the Obama administration’s reform efforts fail in vain.

Now, there is this fierce battle (and sometimes compromising) game of obtaining the dominance between President Obama/Government (which have been scarred by the endless dissonance and betrayal among their own folks, Democrats) and the Industrial Medusa. It has never been this close for the Government to take this dominance from the Medusa. Despite many current problems and flaws, the nation should remember that it has been only the current President who came this close to the reversal of chronically ill-designed US power game. Productive, healthy criticism will help the Government win the battle. But, just criticizing for the sake of criticizing will unnerve, deprive the energy and passion out of the President /Government and empower, help the Industrial Medusa win the game and maintain their dominance in US politics again. We should understand that the current troubles with financial and health care reforms are rather the indication of how tough, powerful the industries’ influence on US politics than the weakness, flaws of the President’s political skills and unfolding policy agendas. Politics, as usual, is a complicate game.

Below are the blogs of how these industrial interests are twisting the current reforms.

huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/how-a-few-private-health_b_388788.html

huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/11/house-passes-financial-re_n_389267.html

huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/11/pharma-deal-shuts-down-se_n_388895.html