I have worked in politics for the better part of the last decade and many of my friends treat me as a political oracle, asking me for predictions or opinions on current events.  Without fail, at least once a week, I am asked a question that has become almost cliche, to the point where I laugh when I hear it.

“What is the greatest threat to the United States?”

For years the answer was Russia and of course, Russia continues to be a threat to US interests, as former spy boss Vladamir Putin attempts to extend Russian influence across the globe.  Russian action in Ukraine and Georgia shows they will absolutely act in their own self-interest through tacit invasions of neighboring countries.  During my time in college (2007-2010) I felt that Russia posed the greatest threat to the United States because those aggressive actions were occurring during that time, whether it was the invasions of both Crimea and South Ossetia or their actions with Chechen rebels.

As we entered the 2010s, I felt that China moved to the top of the leaderboard when it came to threats posed to the United States.  It started with the Chinese outright manipulating their currency to become competitive on a global scale.  That was soon followed by concerns of Chinese spying and hacking of the US Defense and Intelligence apparatus, which was evident in their near-overnight catch up in defense technologies, like the Joint Strike Fighter program.  During my travels in Africa in 2019, I came to find out that China was either the outright owner or part-owner of numerous raw materials and resources on the African continent, which remains the richest continent in the world when it comes to natural resources. Their aggression in the South China Sea and against Taiwan has spun up in recent months, likely requiring intervention from the United States at some point in the near future.

But both of those terrible threats are rivaled by one thing:  The power wielded by the United States of America.  A strong and resolute US, serves at the very best, as a strong deterrent for other world powers from acting in manners that are aggressive and/or dangerous to global security.  If the US didn’t exist tomorrow, what would stop Russia from rolling into Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, or any of the other former Soviet Republics that have since been operating independently?  What would stop China from ending any and all discussion about Taiwanese or Hong Kong Independence?  Literally nothing. A strong US is the (nuclear) deterrent for these other global powers from simply deciding to invade whomever and wherever they desire.

However, the answer to the “greatest threat” question has changed.  No longer am I looking at maps or reading international news to determine the who’s who of international threats.  Instead, I have been watching domestic news, following social media, and watching as the rights and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution are eroded by a much more dangerous group:  Corporate Fascists.

Of course, Constitutional rights apply to the prohibition of the action of Government to curtail or eliminate those rights.  Companies and corporations, essentially, are entitled to any and all prohibitions they so desire, including limitations on free speech, the prohibition of 2nd Amendment rights, and the unfettered ability to spy on your life absent your knowledge or any warrant.  The information they gather about you and your life is for sale to the highest bidder, including foreign enemies.  They can decide to have two competing standards for two groups of people, regardless of how discriminatory it may be.

Earlier this month, social media companies launched an effort to eliminate conservatives on their services in the interest of “security.”  Absent any illegal activity or any violation of terms of service, thousands of conservatives have been denied their free speech (whether or not it occurs in a government-protected forum), unfairly and irrationally labeled terrorists and insurrectionists, and been publicly humiliated for associations which they feel are unsavory.  They have de-platformed and removed sites that promote gun-rights, traditional marriage, pro-biological science, as well as faith-based groups, simply because they decide they are a threat.  When democrats realized they couldn’t strip us of these rights through Government, they decided to do it through corporations, with their unfettered ability to decide exactly who they wish to serve and allow access to their services.  Again, much of the behavior cited as justification for their bans and drops were simply associations, rather than anything illegal or immoral.  They simply didn’t like the content.

With GameStop-mania settling over the market, numerous large firms conspired to deny people of their access to the markets.  Companies like Robinhood, Ameritrade, and others, paused trading on the hot stock simply because they felt their influence in the market, is toxic.  Remember, these are the same people who literally sold assets that weren’t worth the paper they were printed on and bankrupted the nation under the guise of being “too big to fail.”  These same people have been manipulating markets and stock prices for their own benefit, oftentimes screwing current shareholders in the process.  Their actions amount to fraud or theft, in any other venue of business in the world.  On Wall Street, it is legal, encouraged, and prevalent.  But here’s the issue:  Nothing about what they were preventing the small traders from doing was illegal.  It wasn’t like Robinhood paused trading and refunded investors because they were attempting to do something illegal or unethical.  They just didn’t like what they were doing because it made their Wall Street people mad.  The people who consistently and reliably manipulate stock prices for their own benefit were mad that others were manipulating a stock price for their own benefit.  Yet Corporate Fascists came at small investors in their efforts to maintain their power.

As I said before, American Global Power is what protects us and others around the globe, from threats.  Yet, Corporate Fascism has so blatantly undermined our form of government through their influence on our policy and culture, that they are destroying that American superiority, all in favor of their agenda and profit.  They hide behind their non-government status by denying Americans of rights and privileges guaranteed by the US Constitution, however then cozy up to their whores in Government in order to forward their selfish policy agenda.  For them, it isn’t about business competition.  That, they can handle.  What they hate, is the ideological opposition, which would somehow crap all over their wet-dreams of Western-Socialist utopias, in which they rule from some glorified and benevolent, social-engineering politburo, from both sides of the aisle.  Threats to this Corptocracy, are both free-market capitalism and communism.  It is a new style of fascism that hides behind logos and slogans as opposed to red flags and manifestos.  It destroys the fabric of our great nation, softens our global power, and makes us easy pickings for international threats.  Unless there is an immediate and complete severing of the connection between government and Corporate Fascists, we can all expect to watch as the US ceases to exist.  Corporate Fascism is hands-down, the greatest threat we currently face.