Beware, moderate and progressive voters, of the crony-capitalist juggernaut that has been and will be launched to defeat the Democratic candidate, and especially Bernie Sanders. They have a lot at stake: billions in profits off the backs of average Americans — extended to other countries where their sway is growing. Crony capitalism is a world-wide force that, in effect, staged a silent coup beginning in the 1970s with the Powell Manifesto. Democratic socialism was making inroads in the United States under the Lyndon Johnson presidency, even showing some features under Richard Nixon.

Crony capitalism has infiltrated education, health care, prisons, public transportation, environmental issues, labor unions, the work place, the courts, immigration, and the media. Their newest target includes all public spending, a target avidly pursued is Medicare and social security. There are trillions of dollars of profit potential there.

The crony capitalist money machine is ruthless with greed beyond your imagination. It’s not that capitalism does not have a wealth door for average Americans. It’s that that door has been closing since the 1970s and is mostly bolted shut as crony capitalists control all realms of government and have a colossal impact on truth in the media.

Don’t think that capitalists don’t favor what Fox News is doing to a large segment of our people. It plays into their hands to keep Republicans in power, and Fox News lies 24/7 to maintain its puppet base.

The privatization movement also sunk its teeth into the armed forces, Erik Prince, brother of Betsy Devos, Secretary of Education, building an overwhelming presence in the George W. Bush administration in the form of a Bush-administration contracting a private military firm called Blackwater. It was actually a mercenary force in Iraq, whose employees were charged with killing private Iraqi civilians.

Even during the Obama administration, privatization continued in education, health care, prisons, and had a minor role in the military. Probably the most disturbing in a democracy such as ours is what crony capitalism’s marshaling of privatization has done to the media and how information is dispersed to the people.

During the Reagan presidency, the Fairness Doctrine, overseen by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was honest, equitable and balanced. Of course, in today’s realm of media, that is a joke. Reagan’s FCC made short work of the Fairness Doctrine and Democrats went along with it.

What followed was the gradual profitization of the news and the advent of Fox News, right-wing talk radio, and the later addition of alt-right outlets like Breitbart News, Sinclair News, NewsMax, and WorldNetDaily, all spewing propaganda and lies only suitable for reactionary thinking.

But a plutocratic culture must go beyond current news. It must penetrate education policy to guide the voting population toward corporate culture ideals.

There are many overlapping connections to education, privatization advocacy groups, think tanks, and media outlets, are funded by a few conservative billionaires like Betsy DeVos (immediate family worth $2 billion), who influences and affects millions in investments. Public charter schools, digital learning models, education reform, anti-union, attacks on teacher job protections are all targets mostly funded by corporate and right-wing groups.

Many funding groups have organized behind tax-free, non-profit organizations that depend on Republican leadership to bless their tax-free status. There are advocacy groups like Institute for Justice, Bill of Rights Institute and Stand for Children; media groups like the Daily Caller and Education Next; philanthropy groups like Dick and Betsy Devos Family Foundation and Charles Koch Foundation; corporations like Pearson PLC and K12Inc; and think tanks like Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation.

Deeply entrenched organizations depend on Republican support and engineer their media sway to deter progressive Democrats from toppling any part of their empire.

Even mainstream media has a slice of the pie to protect. For example, it may be true that the New York Times (NYT) is quite critical of Trump, but it is a publicly traded company on the stock market and generated $420 million in revenue last year. It does rely on advertising to fuel its corporate profits. Remember, we have no Fairness Doctrine to protect balanced reporting.

Compared to Fox News, the NYT is a pinnacle of independent thought and it does usually get its facts straight. But we still have to be wary of how these facts are framed. Does it join in the frequent framing of a Bernie Sander primary win as feared by Democrats?

Certainly, we all have much to fear about a continuation of our horrible health care system where premiums and copays keep rising and many millions are uninsured and where tens of thousands (many insured) go bankrupt from outrageous health care bills. Facing coronavirus, we don’t need a $3,000 bill just to be tested for coronavirus. We need protection from predatory medical price gouging.

Just beware. Keep in mind that crony capitalism is powerful in the world, especially in the USA, and they have a lot to lose if the most outrageously corrupt, spiteful, racist, lawbreaking president we have ever had doesn’t get re-elected.