Outlines An Agenda For US Independence From Corporate Power
Riffing on 1776 and the US Declaration of Independence, today former Democratic candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his candidacy as an Independent.
Kennedy reiterated his original pledge to:
to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country.
Because it is highly unlikely that the corporate media will fairly present his rationale for doing so, here is the thrust of RFK Jr.’s message, with which I completely agree: (text of speech – emphases mine):
Today, I declared my independence from the corporations that have hijacked our government to milk us for profit.
I declared independence from Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Ag, the military contractors, and their lobbyists who now outnumber members of Congress 20 to 1.
I declared independence from the mercenary media that forever urges us to hate our neighbors and fear our friends.
I declared independence from the cynical elites who betray our hope and amplify our divisions.
And finally, I declared independence from the two political parties and the corrupt interests that dominate them, and the entire rigged system of rancor and rage, corruption and lies, that has turned government officials into indentured servants of their corporate bosses. If left unchecked, they will commoditize our air, water, food, labor, and children, and turn the American Dream into desperation and dust.
No other candidate is saying anything remotely like this.
No other candidate is properly focused on corporate power and the corporate capture and corruption of government in pursuit of greed and profits.
Earlier this year, after Kennedy announced his run as a Democratic candidate and Cornel West announced his run as a Green Party candidate, I wrote to support both candidates’ ideology and agenda, and suggest a strategy, see; Progressive Need Their Own “Powell Memo”:
But recently, there have been glimmers of light in this darkness.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced his campaign for President with a refreshingly radical pledge:
“to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country.”
Kennedy pledged to establish “honest government”.
While I have not supported the Kennedy candidacy, I have contributed small amounts to the Kennedy campaign to reward this focus on corporate power and regulatory capture, because I’ve been working on similar issues for over 40 years – both in government and advocacy groups – and find them to be of critical importance.
The Kennedy campaign can be an effective platform and vehicle for education, organization and mobilization on many left and progressive issues that are implicit in Kennedy’s declarations excerpted above. Of course, I disagree with Kennedy on several issues, particularly immigration and Israel-Palestine, and the way he is framing climate and even environmental issues (i.e. that capitalism can solve both).
I did not expect Kennedy to break with the Democratic Party and assumed he would travel the same road of corporate DNC sabotage as Bernie Sanders did in 2016 and 2020.
Running as an Independent is a major political development that likely will force Democrats to bag Biden and engage Kennedy’s challenge. It could also attract a considerable faction of the Trump base.
Regardless, as Kennedy clearly sought to emphasize in Philadelphia, it was an historic speech.