David and Goliath Updated

 We grew up with the story of David and Goliath, the skinny kid with the slingshot who humbled the fiercely armored Philistine giant, Goliath.  The behemoth’s taunting, the contempt and the certainty that little Davy would be creamed contributed immense drama to the story, and his surprise victory was instructional to all of us.  The story strikes a resonant chord with anyone who has been victimized by city hall, a big company or any other entity capable of bullying its neighbors.  This story has endured from biblical times because of its timeless relevance.

Osmar Schindler lithograph, c. 1888

The modern equivalent to this story is the ongoing conflict between people and corporations who have the legal rights of individuals in the United States and most of the world.  Short sighted and nasty as your neighbor might be, he/she probably can’t draw upon the almost unlimited money, legal talent, publicity and access to the levers of government that a corporation can.

Corporations make Goliath look a little like David.  Before the giant could draw his sword, the corporation would have outlawed the use of swords by bearded men who scowl, slapped an injunction against him and deployed their private security force (in-house or contractors—does it matter?) between themselves and the unsavory, anti-social ingrate created by the company’s PR department.

In other countries, corporations have tried to bully their way to wealth by advocating for access to local natural resources claimed by indigenous peoples, by intimidation and by co-opting local jurisdictions with the help of national governments supported by the US government and the World Bank.  A few examples worth reading about are:

·         the Canadian mining company, Copper Mesa Mining Corporation versus the people of Ecuador  http://www.visionofearth.org/news/mining-corporation-vs-el-salvador/ ;

·         Bechtel’s attempted takeover of the public water system of Cochabamba, Bolivia http://www.countercurrents.org/gl-dc210106.htm

The story in the United States is similar and fraught with even more complexity as corporations buy up and control almost all media outlets—and tighten their strangleholds on politicians who rely upon their campaign donations and the kindness of the aforementioned media outlets. 

The biblical story ended with Goliath’s beheading and the rout of the invading Philistines, but that isn’t an option in the modern story because the influence and power of these new giants of commerce has spread through every strand of our consumer culture.  We are often our own worst enemy as we support these unsavory corporate tactics by ignorance and by looking the other way because we’re too darned comfortable.