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Book Reviews
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The Elite Consensus: When Corporations Wield the Constitution
by George Draffan
(The Apex press; 2003; $14.95;180 pages; printed with soy ink on recycled paper)
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I read this book at a time when I needed answers to questions concerning consolidation of corporate power. Do you ever wonder, “How do Corporations know?,” “Why do Corporations work together?,” “How did they get so much power?;” then this book is for you. This book goes into depth about the relationships between political parties, lobby groups, special interests, PACs, think tanks, and global corporate rule. This book is a treasure trove of information about Wall Street’s reliance on speculation and the extent of the corporate domination of the American mindset.
“The Elite Consensus” describes the mechanisms of corporate power and exposés the major groups shaping our society. It explains how corporate media interacts with think tanks to create the world view we all have been told to believe in. The book also comments on the connection between corporate funding and political power, and the roles that both the Democrats and Republicans play in lobbying.
The book starts with the concept of corporate personhood. Corporations are allowed to advertise, sue, waste, and pollute because they claim to be a person. They have been claiming human rights since a court case in 1884. What kind of person have corporate lawyers created? Mr. Draffan says it best with: “They tell the government what to do.” When talking about corporate power, the book even mentions private police and military power. I was surprised at the amount of suppression that follows privatization. I learned about the length corporations will go to in order to secure privatization of public resources around the globe.
This book covers the globalization movement and the reasons why corporations get what they want. With exposes on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this book spared no criticism, including for the biggest players in global corporate domination. The end of the book contains profiles on all the major institutions of corporate power. I really enjoyed learning about the structure of corporate power, but in the end it was kind of depressing to see the extent of this power structure. At least there is a solution, which is an END to corporate personhood.
Ryan LaPorte
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