Scales now favor the few and the mighty

We are seeing the balance of societal influence over events and our lives move from the small and populace to the big and the few. In October, the Illinois legislature removed popular supervision of the ComEd and Exelon monopoly, giving ComEd automatic annual price increases without review and approval of the Illinois Commerce Commission. The people’s power to be heard before public ICC hearings has been eliminated in the state of Illinois.

Over the last decades, power over our workplace has moved from workers to big company management. The right of workers to associate and bargain with one voice with management has been reduced to a muffled wood block in both private and public sectors of our economy. As populace power has decreased, so have wages.

Large big box stores line our roads, having replaced entrepreneurs’ stores and a multitude of other small retail establishments. Large manufacturers drive the little U.S. machine shop out of business and purchase their raw materials from foreign entities; entrepreneurs become employees.

The big military-industrial complex lobbyist gets a private hearing before elected officials, while the peace demonstrators are denied their right to assemble and petition their government.

Soon, as the Republicans drive through Congress their repressive legislation to shutter Fannie Mae, the holder and facilitator of the 30-year mortgage, you and I will be under the power of the big banks, Wall Street, and subject to the volatility of the mortgaged-backed securities market in our search for shelter.

These are a few examples of the pendulum of societal influence swinging from the broad citizenry to concentration in a few. The scales will favor the few and mighty at the expense of the small and many unless we change the thinking of the members of state and federal legislative bodies and demand power be placed back in the hands of people.

Tom Teune

Wheaton