Democracy Now episode on corporate tax evasion and nuclear power

Democracy Now

Human Behavior And Social Environment

Democracy Now episode critique

Sundance Film Festival

URL: http://www.democracynow.org/

Date of the show: January 24, 2011

Tax Justice Network USA chair Jack Blum; Sheena Joyce, co-director of the new documentary The Atomic States of America, and Robert Redford

This show profiles several movie-makers with features being shown at the Sundance Film Festival. The films deal with areas of social justice. The first speaker appears as a 'talking head' in a documentary entitled We're Not Broke, a film on the widespread phenomenon of corporate tax evasion in America. The second speaker, the director Sheena Joyce, discusses America's long and troubling relationship with the use of nuclear power. The final speaker, Robert Redford, is a well-known actor and director as well as the creator of the Sundance Film Festival. He designed the festival to showcase radical and independent films offering a different perspective upon American public issues.

Rationale (3-5)

The main reason I chose this feature was because the media has been subjected to great scrutiny and criticism in recent months, in terms of the way it covers political issues. However, this program demonstrates that many 'liberal' issues do not receive a great deal of airtime, despite contentions of supposed liberal bias in the mainstream media. I was particularly interested in the issue of under-taxation of corporations. More and more Americans are struggling with their finances, yet little is being done to ensure that corporate entities that receive many benefits from residing in the U.S. pay their 'fair share.'

Critique (7-10 sentences)

The most pertinent perspective is offered by Blum, given that the issue of justice in taxation has come to the forefront of media attention, with the candidacy of Mitt Romney. Blum singles out Romney's firm, Bain Capital, as an example of a piratical firm that takes over firms and then sells them off for a profit. This is done using offshore partnerships in the Cayman Islands that are not taxed. Blum says that it is an outrage that the debate on cost-cutting in the media has been focused upon slashing essential services, such as police and firemen, but that there has been tremendous resistance to exposing the tax shelters that protect the rich. These tax 'dodges' do not truly promote free and fair capitalism, since they favor citizens who are wealthy and well-connected enough to use them. What Romney does is legal, but it is not fair. The recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United has further enfranchised the wealthy by treating corporations as 'persons' in terms of their ability to make campaign contributions.

Similarly, the situation encapsulated by Joyce in her documentary highlights how when large corporate interests are at stake, ordinary citizens often get hurt. Joyce notes the wide array of communities located near nuclear power plants, all of whom experience similar sicknesses that seem liked to radiation, including higher rates of cancer. However, because of the tremendous financial stake in nuclear power, there has been an unwillingness to fully publicize the extent of the risk, similar to how that the current tax code favors the rich is under-covered in the media.

Thankfully, due to the Sundance Film Festival, alternative perspectives can be aired. However, I also wonder if the complicated nature of the issues at stake -- complicated economics and the science of nuclear power -- is at the core of the reasons for media under-coverage. The mass media likes a 'good story,' while the stories presented in this Democracy Now segment require the type of attention a feature-length documentary alone can encapsulate. American's short attention spans more than ideology might be one reason these issues have failed to captivate the public when they are aired in the media.