Where Should Our Allegiance Lie?

I marvel daily at the stupidity of Republicans who proclaim in loud, cocksure voices that the salvation of the country lies in the hands of the private sector. They bark, as though they and they alone know the truth, that government screws everything up and that only the robber barons of the privately and publicly owned companies know what is best for us poor middle-class folk. They taunt and mock those liberals who believe that we have a better chance of living a good life if our government takes a strong hand in the economy. And then I read this, from the Guardian, and I know, with great certainty, that we liberals are right.

Dean Herreid's lungs are gradually being destroyed. When he coughs, as he frequently does, his long, wheezing splutter sounds so painful it makes you wince. Herreid lives in Libby, a tiny Rocky Mountain town in Montana that is isolated, beautiful and toxic. Scores of men in this rough-edged, blue collar town have been killed off, poisoned with deadly asbestos from the local mine.
.....
Horrifying stories are emerging at a criminal trial where the corporate giant WR Grace, which owned the mine, is accused of knowingly allowing not only its miners but the entire town to breathe deadly asbestos dust. The US government calls it "the worst case of industrial poisoning of a whole community in American history".

The truth about big business and the private sector is that profit triumphs over all costs. If their need to make money ruins the health of their workers, or even if it costs lives, it is worth protecting the "company." Reflect not only on what I've posted here today as evidence of my point, but also the tainted peanut products scandal of the past few months. The Republican creed is simple - money and wealth over all else.

via Carolina Naturally