Speaking of Corporatocracy

I just had to mention this, because a friend mentioned it to me today. Corporatocracy is the term that Perkins coined to define the cozy relationship between industry and government, one that has seen individuals move from executive offices to government offices (George H. W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Robert McNamara, etc) and back. And if there's anyone who doubted that big business runs America, check this story out from Brazil about "flex-fuel" cars: cars that can run on ethanol and gasoline, and any mixture of the two, taking 53.6% of the market for new cars.

That's right.

Brazil.

Fucking Brazil has just sold more potentially clean cars than gas-driven cars in the past year, for the first time since the 1980s (not to knock Brazil, but honestly? Brazil vs the US?). And speaking of which, meanwhile, in the US - what? You mean to tell me that Brazil can manage something and the United States of America can't? Can you imagine what the result would be if, like during the space race, an American president stood up and said, "In 10 years, the majority of cars sold in the United States will be clean." Can you? Do you, for a second, doubt that America could make it happen in a decade? In 5 years? Again, this is the country that put a man on the fucking moon, all because one man said, "We will," and every individual, every applicable industry, every ounce of science and innovation bent to that one previously thought unreachable goal.

Because it could. But it won't, because every single oil and car company has a huge stake in holding it off for as long as possible. And that's the truth.

Fuck, this is so upsetting. I'd had such an awesome day up until this point, too. I think I'm going to go watch Real Time and get even more pissed.