Putting Profits Before People

The American People Are Victims of Collusion Between Corporations and State and Federal Governments

One of the advantages of becoming an old fart is learning lessons from a lengthy past. There is no better teacher, and no more factual information than what actually happened over decades in one’s lifetime

Life Remains the Greatest Teacher

If you read my rants frequently, you are aware that 76 years of life in America is why I no longer trust anyone in power. I have also learned that in America profit is more important than people. Federal, state governments, and corporate America are in collusion to ensure that the outrageous profits of our nation’s largest companies are protected. Meanwhile, the quality of life for all 333 million Americans declines every day.

In my state of Nevada, a single utility company supplies natural gas and electrical power to nearly every home in the entire state. Only homes with solar power escape the monopoly which is NV Energy.

You Pay for the Bloated Profits of Corporations

But first, allow me to tell you a story. This happened when I was in my senior year of high school in 1963. I was in my “Economics” class. We were learning about corporations, and how some of the largest and most profitable grew in size and why their profits increased each year. If a company’s gross revenue increased by 30 percent a year, it was considered very successful. Today’s giants make 200, 300, 400, and even 500 percent profit each year.

These companies grew in size because they reinvested their profits. They built additional factories and updated their equipment. As they continued to grow, the wages of their employees were raised. The success of corporations was directly related to the efforts and abilities of those who produced whatever they had to sell.

Today’s America is no longer a major manufacturing nation. Most of our good-paying jobs are now performed in foreign lands where the workers receive a much smaller percentage of wages than American workers previously earned.

Other changes resulted in more profit for corporate America and the average American paying for the success of those corporations.

No Pride in “Made in America” in the 21st Century

No longer do corporations share their profits with their employees. This is the reason for the increase in income inequality. Corporations no longer reinvest in their own companies. This is where NV Energy comes into the story.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission recently authorized NV Energy to raise their rates to consumers, for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic. NV Energy is planning to build a new power station in Southern Nevada as a “backup” should there be a power failure. They estimate the cost to be $340 million. We, the citizens of Nevada will pay higher gas and electric bills, while investors and board of directors keep their profits. No longer do they reinvest their profits, they place them in offshore banks or buy another 40 million dollar home on the French Riviera.

Thanks to a Corrupt Government, We Are Servants to the Very Rich

If you live in America in the 21st century, you live in a nation designed to serve the super-rich and the powerful. You pay for their luxurious lifestyle while you struggle to survive. They weren’t satisfied with the account of money they had. So, as the pandemic was beginning to subside, they created “greedflation.”

All corporations share one fact, they want more money. Thanks to the government of the state of Nevada, NV Energy will have more of our money to waste.

Written by James Turnage

Find my nine novels on Amazon’s Kindle

Sources:

Energy and Policy Institute: While NV Energy decries rooftop solar “cost shift”, it is over-profiting from its customers by tens of millions

Smart Energy Decisions: Switch goes after Nevada regulators, NV Energy for $30M, permission to exit service

Top and featured image courtesy of Oren Elbaz‘s Unsplash page – Creative Commons License