Consumer accountability vs. regulatory capture
Systemic Critiques"We seek critique, not endorsement. Please be harsh. We can handle it."
The Plutocracy Problem
If Corporations Run Government, Make Them Accountable to Consumers
The Reality: America Is a Plutocracy
Let's dispense with the fiction. The United States is not a functioning democracy—it's a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy). This isn't conspiracy theory; it's documented political science.
The Evidence
Princeton Study (Gilens & Page, 2014): Analyzed 1,779 policy issues. Found that economic elites and organized business groups have substantial impact on policy, while average citizens have "near-zero" influence.
Campaign Finance: Post-Citizens United, unlimited corporate money in politics. 2020 election cost $14 billion. Donors expect—and receive—returns on investment.
Revolving Door: Regulators become lobbyists become regulators. Goldman Sachs alumni throughout Treasury. Pharma executives at FDA. Defense contractors at Pentagon.
Policy Outcomes: Tax cuts for corporations pass easily. Minimum wage stagnant for decades. Healthcare costs triple while industry profits soar. Student debt explodes while bankruptcy protection removed.
Regulatory Capture: Industries write their own regulations. Banks too big to fail, too big to jail. Tech monopolies face no meaningful antitrust.
The Pretense Problem
The current system maintains a fiction of democracy while operating as a plutocracy. This creates the worst of both worlds:
Corporations get power without accountability. They influence policy but aren't responsible for outcomes.
Citizens get accountability without power. They vote but their preferences don't translate to policy.
Politicians serve two masters. They must please donors to get elected, then pretend to serve voters.
No one is actually accountable. Corporations blame government. Government blames corporations. Citizens blame both. Nothing changes.
The AIP Insight: Align Incentives Through Consumer Power
If corporations effectively control government anyway, the solution isn't to pretend otherwise—it's to make them accountable to consumers. This aligns their profit motive with citizen welfare.
The Logic
Current System: Corporations maximize shareholder value. This often means extracting from consumers, workers, and communities. Government is captured, so no check exists.
AIP System: Corporations still maximize profit—and prosperous consumers are the path to maximum profits. When every citizen has a Stability Account, consumer spending power becomes the economy's foundation. Extraction shrinks the customer base; cooperation expands it. This isn't altruism—it's the math of sustainable wealth creation.
Why This Works
Profit motive remains intact. Corporations still pursue profit—AIP doesn't fight human nature, it redirects it.
Consumer power is real power. $25T economy means consumer spending is the ultimate accountability mechanism.
Alignment beats regulation. When corporate profits depend on consumer prosperity, no regulation needed—incentives do the work.
895M consumers > 331M. Hemispheric Alliance creates larger market. Corporations profit more from cooperation than extraction.
The Mechanism: How AIP Creates Consumer Accountability
1. Universal Stability Accounts
Every citizen has $25K seed growing to $1.89M. This creates a floor of consumer power. Corporations can't extract consumers into poverty because impoverished consumers can't buy products. The profit motive requires maintaining consumer prosperity.
2. Productivity Sharing
When AI makes workers 25% more productive, wages rise 25%. This ensures productivity gains flow to consumers, not just shareholders. More consumer spending = more corporate revenue. Corporations profit from sharing, not hoarding.
3. Point-of-Sale Tax Collection
Gross Revenue Tax collected at point-of-sale makes corporate tax burden transparent and unavoidable. No offshore havens. No accounting tricks. No lobbying for loopholes. Every transaction contributes. Level playing field means competition on value, not tax arbitrage.
4. Healthcare/Education Investment
Universal healthcare eliminates $15K/employee corporate burden. Lifetime education creates skilled workforce. Corporations benefit directly from healthy, educated consumers and workers. Their profit motive aligns with public investment.
Historical Proof: The Ford $5 Day
In 1914, Henry Ford did something that horrified his fellow industrialists: he doubled wages to $5/day and cut hours from 9 to 8. The Wall Street Journal called it "an economic crime." Other manufacturers predicted bankruptcy. Instead, Ford became the richest man in America.
What Actually Happened
Productivity soared: Well-paid, rested workers produced more per hour. Output per worker increased dramatically.
Workers became customers: Ford employees could now afford Model Ts. The customer base expanded.
Ford's Own Words
"The owner, the employees, and the buying public are all one and the same, and unless an industry can so manage itself as to keep wages high and prices low it destroys itself, for otherwise it limits the number of its customers." — Henry Ford
The Lesson for AIP
Ford proved the core AIP insight over 100 years ago: paying workers well isn't charity—it's the path to maximum profits. His competitors called him crazy. He became a billionaire while they struggled. The "economic crime" was the best business decision of the 20th century. AIP applies this lesson at civilizational scale.
The Math: Why Corporations Should Want This
Current Extraction Model
331M US consumers, stagnant wages
Consumer debt at record levels
$15K/employee healthcare burden
Complex tax compliance costs
Political instability risk
Extraction balance coming due (see previous document)
AIP Cooperation Model
895M Alliance consumers (+170%)
Wages +160% (productivity sharing)
Zero healthcare costs (universal system)
Zero tax compliance (point-of-sale)
Political stability (prosperity reduces extremism)
The plutocrats should want this system. It makes them richer than extraction ever could—sustainably, without the inevitable balancing.
The Political Framing
For Progressives
"We're not asking corporations to be altruistic. We're restructuring incentives so their profit motive serves the public. Consumer accountability is stronger than captured regulation."
For Conservatives
"Free markets work when consumers have power. AIP creates the largest, richest consumer market in history. It's not redistribution—it's market expansion. Corporations profit more, not less."
For Business Leaders
"The current system is unsustainable. Extraction economics always balance—violently. AIP offers a path to sustainable profits: 895M prosperous consumers instead of 331M struggling ones. The math is obvious."
Discussion Questions for Validators
Is the plutocracy framing too inflammatory, or necessary honesty?
Can consumer accountability actually substitute for democratic accountability?
What prevents corporations from simply raising prices to capture Stability Account funds?
How do you get plutocrats to support a system that reduces their political power?
Is this argument cynical or pragmatic?
Does framing cooperation as "profit maximization" undermine the moral case?
Note: This document deliberately uses provocative framing to spark discussion. The plutocracy characterization is defensible but politically charged. Validators are invited to suggest alternative framings that preserve the insight while moderating the rhetoric.