Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage?

The term “capitalism” is oftentimes misunderstood – both in the United States and more broadly around the world. These misperceptions around capitalism are often a result of the pervasive trend toward “corporate welfare” in the western world. While the topic of wealth distribution is typically accompanied by debates for levels of welfare benefits, taxation vs. voluntary assistance, or optimal levels of taxation that encourage work but provide a safety net to the poor, Free to Choose Network (FTCN) believes that all reasonable people (while maybe disagreeing on the previous issues) can broadly agree on the ill effects of “upward wealth redistribution” where the low and middle class provide subsidies to business owners and politicians.

FTCN aims to generate a culture shift as a solution to the pervasiveness of corporate welfare in the western world today. They will aim to generate this cultural shift through (a) creating a film for distribution on public television; (b) establishing a community engagement program that helps provide local citizens with knowledge and tools to combat the problems of cronyism; and (c) producing and distributing video-based classroom education materials highlighting the partnership between government and business that causes cronyism to flourish.

Contribution to Enhancing Freedom

Though this project, FTCN will highlight the work of ordinary people who are making systemic changes in their communities and then subsequently promote these efforts to others. They will be able to raise awareness around the issue of corporate welfare and then inspire those at the local level to combat it. This will result in a stronger reaction against the corporate welfare impulse in the United States, providing greater security and agency to the most marginalized in society who are disproportionately affected by this issue. Additionally, through their K-12 educational outreach, FTCN will change the future culture around corporate welfare by educating youth on the topic.