Letter: Profits matter more than people in kleptocracy

The TCH headline on 1B (Sept. 14) states, “Real estate industry blocks warnings that threaten profits.” It is a lesson in American capitalism. Substitute “oil” for real estate; substitute “banking” for real estate; substitute “pharmacy” for real estate; substitute “tobacco” for real estate. Big business and its lobbyists will do any and everything it can to insure profitability, often at the expense of people’s well-being.

This practice is artfully shown in a play like Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People. In the novel Jaws, the mayor is a shark for profits, downplaying the hunger of the one offshore. And didn’t Karen Silkwood, true or not, shame the nuclear industry’s unwanted, costly safety measures?

One more example: substitute “Trump” for real estate. Tax “reform” will drop corporate tax from 35 percent down to 15 percent (and) will put millions in his pocket. Gee, who would of thought?

Democracy? Try kleptocracy.

This story was originally published September 18, 2017 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Letter: Profits matter more than people in kleptocracy."