Hidden Agenda - 1. Hidden Agenda

"Let's face it, the educational system and unions are the two biggest factors affecting our bottom line," Jim bemoaned as he sat down with a bunch of similar minded individuals for dinner.

"I can see why you listed the unions, because whenever a large number of individuals join together they gain greater influence and power, so they become more difficult to deal with. The thing is, I'm confused about why you added education too," George stated and his puzzled expression emphasized the point. "Don't we need a fairly intelligent workforce in order to keep our businesses functioning smoothly?"

"We need a certain percentage of people with good heads on their shoulders and sufficient knowledge to keep things running without a glitch. But how much education does it take to work on an assembly line, load trucks or drive them from point A to point B?" David countered, as he watched George to make sure he understood.

"Or to operate a cash register?" Jim added, tapping the table with his fingers. "The biggest concern we have there is just to make sure the employees don't lose money for us, because all they have to do is scan the items and the cash register takes care of the rest. It even tells them how much change to give back. The cashier only needs to know the difference between the various bills to make certain they collect enough money and then count out what the register tells them is the correct change to give back."

"And how much knowledge do they need before they can stock shelves or clean floors?" Rob chipped in while making a face showing his disgust. "At most, they just need to have some basic reading skills and a little common sense. Besides, the less education they have, the less we have to pay them."

"He's right. It doesn't take a genius to flip burgers or wait on tables either," Don offered, shaking his pen as he made his point. "The more education they have, the more they want to be paid, and that reduces how much profit we can make."

"And there are a lot of jobs that only require the person be physically fit and have enough intelligence to complete a basic training program successfully," Robert interjected. He then flexed his bicep to emphasize what the workers needed was brawn, not brains. "They don't need to know history or how government works in order to do those jobs."

"Actually, it works to our advantage if we limit how much history they know," Roger added while shaking his finger for added emphasis. "For example, it is far better for us if the general population doesn't become aware of such things as the factors that brought about the end of the 'Gilded Age'. That was the fabulous period in U.S. history that produced the first super-wealthy Americans, such as John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie."

"But shouldn't they be made aware of those individuals, so they have something to aspire to, like becoming fabulously wealthy?" Charles countered.

"Yes, they should know about them," Roger answered, "but it is totally irrelevant for them to discover that it was the birth of organized labor, the establishment of federal regulations and the passage of certain labor laws that helped to stifle those men's ambition to accumulate even more wealth. The general public also doesn't need to know how those factors were responsible for an increase in safety regulations at work, the elimination of child labor, setting limits on the length of the work week or that they helped to increase the wages workers earned either. The only thing worse would be if the majority of people were to learn that some of the largest and most profitable companies of that period were forced to break up into smaller entities to prevent them from using monopolistic practices to command higher prices for their goods."

"They don't need to know any history at all," David added, as he vigorously slapped the table with his hand. "All they need to understand is that the United States is the greatest country in the world and they can show their patriotism by following the principles that we establish are best for the country."

"Yes, and they don't need to know about the mistakes of the past either, because they weren't mistakes at the time," Charles offered, while pounding the fist of one hand into the palm of the other. "Those things were what helped to make America great, so we shouldn't sit back and second guess those decisions now."

"That's very true and the more the workers know, the more they question things," Alice stated, since she had some experience with this. "When the employees become too knowledgeable, they start making demands and begin to challenge the way things are done."

"And they don't need to know about science either," Robert added as his face began to redden. "I'm tired of hearing all of this crap about climate change."

"So you believe it's a hoax too?" George followed, eying him suspiciously.

"Not really, but what they want us to do to clean up or reverse the situation will eat up all of our earnings for the next century," Robert shot back. "And as those proposals increase our costs, we'll have to charge each of you more in return, which will lower your profits margin as well."

"Don't you think it's worth the expense, so we don't end up leaving the earth uninhabitable?" Bill chimed in, convinced this needed to be done.

"We'll be long gone before that happens, so let someone else worry about it, not us," Robert challenged as his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in thought. "They can pay for it too! Do you think the guys that dumped all of that toxic crap in the Love Canal paid to do the clean up? Or the companies that dumped their wastes in the rivers and streams paid to fix the problem? Hell, no! They left that bill to the federal government, so why shouldn't we do the same thing?"

"But aren't you always preaching that there should be a smaller federal government?" Roger asked, confused. "How would that work if you want them to clean up the messes? Wouldn't we need a larger government to do things like that?"

"Let the politicians figure it out," Robert snapped back irritated. "Our only concern is to our companies and those associated with them. Our only worry should be about making profit, not cleaning up any messes we might have made without realizing it at the time."

"But you realize it now, so what are you going to do to stop the problem from continuing?" Jim wanted to know.

"As capitalists, our only concern is making money," Robert spat back. "We'll let someone else worry about the other stuff."

"So you're not worried about your children and grandchildren's future?" Bill countered, totally baffled.

"We'll be leaving them with enough money so they should be able to buy whatever they need to survive," Robert scoffed in reply.

"So how would you suggest we tackle the education problem then?" Charles asked, trying to get everyone back to the original discussion. "Isn't education mandatory until a certain age?"

"It's mandatory that the students attend school, but it doesn't mean they have to be provided with an education that would run contrary to our best interests," David offered with a grin. "First of all, we have to get the federal government out of the business of setting standards and then we will be able to have the states set their own standards instead. We have a much better chance of influencing state politicians to set standards that are more in line with what we want."

"Aren't you afraid people will be opposed to doing that?" John wondered after thinking about it for a minute.

"Not if we are able to convince them that we're doing this so they can maintain local control over what is being taught," David countered, while shaking his finger for added emphasis. "We just have to show them that federal standards aren't in the best interests of their children."

"But won't getting rid of the federal standards also affect those we need to be well educated, so they can keep things running smoothly?" Christy wondered, looking confused.

"We can get those people from the private schools that we've helped to establish and fund. We'll also make sure that those students come from families that agree with our agenda and can afford to have their children educated in these private schools," Jamie offered, as he swept his arm around the room to indicate he meant people like those assembled. "We'll also make sure that there are enough of those types of institutions functioning, while at the same time cutting funding to public education and watering down their curriculum. The less they have to operate with and the lower their standards, the better off we will be."

"Ok, I see your point and it appears to be well thought out," Chris agreed, nodding his head as he spoke. "The only thing left is -- how do we get rid of the labor unions."

"We've already started that process," Charles replied with a wink. "Labor Unions have grown weaker over the past couple of decades and we merely have to continue our campaign of disinformation to convince workers that unions are not in their best interests."

"Isn't that just the opposite of what the unions are for?" Donald challenged, looking shocked.

"It's not about facts or the truth. It is merely about creating the perception and choreographing what people believe to be true," David countered, banging his fist on the table. "If people hear claims about something often enough, then it is retained in their subconscious until they eventually begin to accept that it must be the truth, otherwise why would they keep hearing it said so frequently."

"So what you're doing is convincing individuals to go against their own best interests then?" John wondered, as he sought clarification.

"Exactly!" David roared, pleased by his duplicitous scheme. "Along that same line, we must also convince voters to elect various representatives that will change their states over to 'Right to Work' states. That will prevent businesses and unions from requiring employees to belong to the union in order to be employed. In states where that has already happened, it has helped us to tremendously weaken the unions' influence. We can pay non-union workers considerably less than their union counterparts, so it leaves more money for us."

"But won't doing these things eventually eliminate the middle class?" Robert followed looking confused. "Without a vibrant middle class that has money to spend to buy our goods and services, won't the economy collapse?"

"That may happen over time, but by then we'll have acquired enough wealth that our descendants will be able to live well for generations without having to worry about anything. Look how long the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts have survived off of John D. and Cornelius's wealth," David responded, not looking overly concerned. "By the time the money we've acquired has been depleted, the situation should have improved enough so the last generation living off of what we've accumulated will be able to start over, emulate what we did and refill the vault, so to speak."

"It seems you've got this all worked out," Robert stated as he tilted his head and nodded it slightly. "Is there anything else you need to do?"

"The most important thing is to keep getting people elected to office at all levels - local, state and federal, who support what we're trying to do and will assist in our efforts," David stated, as his chest swelled out in anticipated triumph. "By spending our money wisely, we can finance the campaigns of those that will do what we want and then we'll earn the money back twice over once they're in office."

"But you'll still need favorable press to get your message out," Roger added with a grin. "However, I don't see that as a major obstacle for you either."

So it was agreed! This was what needed to be done to keep the costs of their businesses down and their profits up. Would the people be gullible enough to just accept what they were being told and oblivious to what was actually going on? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The End.