In a war of The United States vs. The Global Corporations, who would win?

[Stephanie]

Could Halliburton hire a bigger Army of mercenaries than our U.S. Army? Could they subcontract for better intelligence than ours? Could Carlyle supply more capital than the U.S. could scrape together? What about weapons, oil, raw materials?

This thought arose as I read Will Pitt's thread and his reference to the PNAC war for "global corporate hegemony."

[Chef]

1. Civil War

Wouldn't that be would be a civil war?

[mike_c]

2. ahhh, but the gov't and the corporations are essentially...

...one and the same. They certainly share the same national and global interests. Rephrasing your question to "in a war between the people and government/corporations, who would win," I think we can expect to have our heads busted by riot troops wearing corporate sponsorship logos on their black kevlar suits.

[Stephanie]

4. Well. my scenario could only occur if there were a miracle

and Kucinich or Nader were president, and Congress was full of Wellstonians. So we get to keep our Army.

[Zhade]

3. Um, the corporations are ALREADY WINNING.

And it's thanks to BOTH parties, sadly.

[Nikia]

5. They've infiltrated our government instead

That was their strategy, which has worked so well that they have no need to raise their own army. With the extent that corporations influence the government, especially at the federal level, I don't see how this will change anytime soon. Large corporations employ many Americans. Large corporations are responsible for many of the consumer goods and necessities that we enjoy and sell these as well. Although small business is still alive and well, small business usually must interact with large corporations in business. For the most part, they control all forms of media as well. For that reason, they extend great influence on all Americans lives. Throughout this administration, they've continued to get stronger, but events were set in motion over a century ago that has led us down this path. Americans have forgotten why the Revolutionary War was fought and what the Boston Tea Party was really about.

[Zorra]

6. "Please Do Not Feed The Animals" n/t

[glitch]

7. Could Halliburton hire a bigger Army of mercenaries than our U.S. Army?

Not if we tied up/cut off their funds. They are in breach of contract so we can get out of those. And there are lots of reasons to investigate them for criminal activities.
We've still got the power, we just don't have people in government willing to use it.

[jukes]

8. worldwide corporate feudalism

is just around the corner past the crusade/jihad.

we're already an oligarchic republic dominated by corporate interests.