The statements are applicable to public institutions in general, not just “Government”.
They are compelling.
Related: Cause-and-effect relationship between public-private-partnerships and corruption
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THINKERS OF THE DAY SAY:
(1) George Soros, “the best fund manager in history, a stateless statesman, and an original thinker“, turned philanthropist. From his book, “Open Society [Reforming Global Capitalism]”, published in 2000 by PublicAffairs. p. xi,
“… the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the world today comes from the formation of unholy alliances between government (public institutions) and business.”
(2) Jane Jacobs‘ “Systems of Survival, the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics” sets forth a framework for understanding that the system of governance will succumb to corruption if we fail to appreciate the functional roles of two separately evolved sets of ethics, one for the commercial function in a society and the other for governance (guardianship). But,
“Societies need both commercial and guardian work … the two types are prone to corruption if they stray across either their functional or moral barriers.”
(3) John Ralston Saul, “Health Care at the End of the Twentieth Century”, 1999
“The Panel identified… serious concerns about the undermining of the scientific basis for risk regulation in Canada due to… the conflict of interest created by giving to regulatory (and training) agencies the mandates both to promote the development of agricultural technologies and to regulate it…”
Note: the ONLY people who get a job in the regulatory agencies are those who get trained by the University.
(4) From John Kenneth Galbraith’s “The Economics of Innocent Fraud – Truth for our Time“, published in 2004 :
“… As the corporate interest moves to power in what was the public sector, it serves, predictably, the corporate interest. That is its purpose. …One obvious result has been well-justified doubt as to the quality of much present regulatory (and educational / research) effort. There is no question but that corporate influence extends to the regulators. … Needed is independent, honest, professionally competent regulation (persons) … This last must be recognized and countered. There is no alternative to effective supervision. …”
I encourage you to click on the link and hear/read what Eisenhower said. Right down to the involvement of the university, he was remarkable in his ability to predict the road ahead. His words motivate us to find our better selves.
(6) We have Justice Krever, Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada, 1996
“Industry can’t be regulated by government – and for environmental and health reasons they must be – if that government is in bed with them.”
(7) Mae-Wan Ho, “Genetic engineering – Dream or Nightmare?”, 1998
You may not like this one, but it rings absolutely true for the me that worked with others to open up the debate on genetically-modified organisms. There are many postings about GMOs on this blog. April 2013, as time permits, I’m adding more from the email store that pre-dates the blog. There is important information collected by this network, still valid today, that documents some of the propaganda used by educated people, refuted by common sense about the real world and nature, that most people would understand.
“To reassure us, they lie to us, and then treat us as idiots by insisting on things we all know are untrue. Not only does this prevent a reasonable debate from taking place, but it also creates a very unhealthy relationship between citizens and their elected representatives”. (and the “intellectuals” who train the regulators)
(8) Excerpt from 1961 John F Kennedy (1917 to Nov 1963). (https://sandrafinley.ca/blog/?p=25991)
THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESS: ADDRESS BEFORE THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION, APRIL 27, 1961
― John F. Kennedy
EXCERPT:
“For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence — on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.
Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.”