John Sweeney Quotes

Corporations are driving down wages and working conditions across the globe to maximize returns for their shareholders. They use their power and influence to ensure the rules align with their interests - no matter the cost.

I think I'm a critic of corporate power, whether locally or globally. And the term 'globalization' I've never found all that helpful.

More than half the world's largest 100 economies are corporations. They have no loyalties to place or citizens.

The workingmen have been exploited all the way up and down the line by employers, landlords, everybody.

The working classes may be injuriously degraded and oppressed in three ways: 1st — When they are neglected in infancy. 2nd — When they are overworked by their employer, and are thus rendered incompetent from ignorance to make a good use of high wages when they can procure them. 3rd — When they are paid low wages for their labor

Free markets were supposed to lead to free societies. Instead, today’s supercharged global economy is eroding the power of the people in democracies around the globe. Welcome to a world where the bottom line trumps the common good and government takes a back seat to big business.

The internationalization of capital is making it more difficult for trade union organizations safeguard workers’ interest. It is limiting the ability of the Government … to accomplish the national objectives defined by the democratic process.

Because of my politics, I don't necessarily think that the independent capitalist is that much better than the multinational capitalist; it's just that the independent capitalist hasn't grown as big yet.

Disproportionate corporate power over governments is giving license to the greed that denies workers even minimum living wages. It is also seemingly a license to allow the sheer brutality of treatment of working people at the base of the supply chains.

The exploitation of distressed workers and the social disparities must not continue.

There is all of this protesting against corporate power, but in reality, corporations have to persuade you - they could have a ton of money, but actually only government can use force.

The wealthy have never liked to pay for the labor that enriches them. Ever since slavery was eliminated, they have been trying to keep it as close to slavery as they can without violating the slave laws.

Since the governments are in the pockets of businesses, who's going to control this most powerful institution? Business is more powerful than politics, and it's more powerful than religion. So it's going to have to be the vigilante consumer.

When taxpayers are subsidizing low wages, people should be aware of that. We're subsidizing an economy. We're not subsidizing people. They are doing a hard day's work. When we're not rewarding work actively, there's something wrong with the system.

I think big business is a terrible thing for the spirit of the country, as our spirit is the best thing about us.

Let's face it: we live at a time when government is less and less powerful, less and less effective, and the agent of social change, at least for the immediate future, is the corporation.

I'm a cynic about corporate democracy and boards.

General Electric, NBC's parent, is one of the largest corporations in the world, with an anti-labor history of outsourcing jobs and with financial links to military and nuclear power industries.

Our supporters can send the message that it's wrong for politically connected corporations to make millions while people doing an honest day's work are being cheated out of an honest day's pay.

Free trade would place our farmers and workers in competition with peasant and sweated labor products.

The United States, along with other major democracies, is moving swiftly toward media control by a handful of gigantic multi-national corporations.

Many will see [globalization] as little more than a mask used by certain economic elites for taking away the voice of the individual citizen.

There are no limits to which powers of privilege will not go to keep the workers in slavery.

I’ll stop demonizing business when business stops putting their profits before the country and starts putting their workers before their greed.

Controlling capitalism has proved far more difficult than controlling anything else, because capitalism is based on the control of the many by the few—the reverse of the conventional definition of political democracy.