Assignment #9-Letter to Obama

Dear Mr. President,

Before taking a course called Media Literacy and the Environment, and reading Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn, I had no idea just how much power and domination corporations actually have over our entire society. I had no idea that news channels are allowed to lie, cover up stories, and even make them up. It has become increasingly obvious to me that giant media corporations are essentially holding onto the steering wheel of this country and everyone is a passenger with no seatbelt, whether they realize it or not. Most have no idea.

In 1886, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations have protection under the Bill of Rights, and therefore the right to free speech. This gives them the same rights as people. The important difference between a person and a corporation is that corporations have no soul or consciousness. The one and only motive of a corporation is to make money. Issues of human rights, environmental preservation, and animal rights are tossed in the landfill (so to speak) as externalized costs. How can dispassionate entities be enabled to have so much control over legislators, lobbyists, and the public?

Really, is there such a thing as democracy anymore? When common citizens are up against multi-billion dollar industries with the same constitutional rights, it is obvious which will win over the lobbyists and legislators. When nearly every American gets their news from a source that is owned and censored by a corporation with only profit in mind, do we ever really know what is going on? When a person can’t even drive down the road without seeing advertisements, how do we know what it is that we really want? The American people no longer hold the status of conscious beings; we are consumers, and the country is a corporation.

Just when I’d almost lost all faith in democracy and the ability of the people to make changes, I discovered grassroots organizing. “The People, united, will never be defeated!” There is a lot more to grassroots organizing than meets the eye. It is more than just some scruffy hippies holding signs and getting arrested. Rather than being a victim of consumer culture, we citizens can be leaders of change. Every day there are moments when individuals can do something thought provoking, something that questions the status quo. I have learned the importance of boycotting unethical products and NOT fitting-in when the “cool” thing to do is blindly consumptive and cruel. I believe that someday, maybe soon, enough people will realize that corporate power is wrong, television isn’t that great, and shopping isn’t really making us feel better about anything. When that happens, the giant corporations won’t be making so much money, and they will die.

My question for you, Mr. Obama, is how will you be a part of this change? I voted for you in November of 2008 and when you took office I had faith that this country would become a much more ethical and simplistic place. As the leader of the United States, you are my last hope. Please take away the rights of corporations under the Constitution of the United States, and give those rights back to the people.

Sincerely,

Megan Clark

(I will put my contact info when I mail it, but not on the internet.)