13 of 13

Yes

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

contribute Y amount if you would like me to voice public support for your cause." Looking at the burgeoning relationship between trade and government from an indifferent perspective, one could describe it as a state of codependence.

At a table sits three bodies: the government, the trade, and the citizen. Each feels independent of the others, but they are sent consistent reminders that without the others, they cannot carry on existence. This is the point of the game - to keep all three players alive. And so, the government prints out thirty dollars and play commences, with each receiving an equal ten dollars. The government taxes both the other players on scale with the amount of money they hold, promising to represent their views to the best of its ability. The trade receives dollars from the citizen in exchange for goods and services. The game turns sour as an alliance is formed between the government and the trade, with the object of aquiring all of the citizen's dollars. When the citizen has one dollar, the government fifteen and the trade fourteen, the government decides to print up an extra seventy dollars. This is called a "prolongation of the inevitable." The disparity of wealth carries onward with the recently-devalued dollars, and in any case where the trade runs low on dollars, it rests assured the government will refill its supply to help run the table.

The government and the trade know they need the citizen if the game is to continue. Their understanding of winning is simply exerting legal and financial hegemony over the citizen. The citizen has entered into quite a bind, unable to contribute much of its dues and forced to rely on the government for survival - or fight back. As (sector-by-sector) the reprecussions of the alliance are felt, it is unclear whether or not the dollars the government doles out to keep both the trade and the citizen compliant can retain even a percentage of their original worth. The game has reached impasse because not all players at the table would admit to being equals.

Learn more about this author, Curtis Lemay.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about Did campaign contributions and lobbying by the financial sector contribute to the meltdown on Wall Street??
We want to hear your view. Write now!