Americans must wake up to a grave problem in state and national governance, i.e., corporatist greed displacing humanity-centered necessities. It is a moral and economic problem that includes such diverse issues as fossil-dominated energy policies, privatization of water supplies and the consolidation of news and information media.

Health and economic impacts of fossil fuel extraction, processing, transport, combustion and waste disposal cost the nation billions of dollars and thousands of lives every year. That, and the degradation of the environment, infrastructure, property values and future generations must no longer be dismissed as mere “costs of doing business.” There are now healthy alternatives.

Some global water companies privatize neighborhood, state and even national water supplies and are clear and present dangers in countries where they inflict terrible suffering on people.

Control of news and information has been used by aspiring despots for centuries to control populations. The public has been warned repeatedly by writers and wise politicians, yet Sinclair Broadcast Group, with help from FCC’s Ajit Pai, may soon gain control of over 70 percent of what Americans see and hear for news.

History shows that “we the people” can stop a corporatist coup and regain control of our collective fate. But first, people have to select and protect quality news and information sources in order to act effectively as well-informed citizens to secure a path to a humanity-centered future. For those who haven’t read the 58-word Preamble to the Constitution lately, now is the time.

Seabury Lyon, Bethel

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