One of the most favored propaganda tools of the capitalist class is harping on their supposed loyalty to bourgeois political freedoms, such as the freedom of speech and the press. In the United States, that means freedom to print and speak the racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant, sexist and bigoted news items constantly produced by the corporate media.
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Sitting among this clique is General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt. One of Immelt’s highest valued assets is NBC Universal, which includes countless print, television and radio outlets. These are all vehicles for the dissemination of ruling-class ideology.
GE is most often associated with household appliances like microwaves and refrigerators, but the corporation’s reach extends not only into ownership of the corporate media but also into the production of nuclear energy, military technology and medical equipment.
One of Immelt’s most wealthy and reliable customers is the United States government. GE has profited handsomely from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Because GE has its hands in the war industry and materials vital for infrastructure, it has received millions of dollars in contracts for the destruction and reconstruction of Iraq. How could a company that sought so aggressively to profit from war, present anything but biased information and analysis to promote the war itself?
Immelt, like other capitalist criminals, profits off the exploitation of working people. GE workers produce all the value that then provides profits to the corporation. But “normal exploitation” is not enough for the capitalists. GE has tried to expand that exploitation wherever possible.
In 2007, Policy Matters Ohio investigated conditions in one of GE’s Chinese suppliers. Among the violations, the group discovered that GE was forcing 64-hour workweeks without overtime pay and denying workers access to their own paystubs. Making matters worse, throughout GE’s long history of producing nuclear power and nuclear weapons it has exposed countless workers to radiation without their knowledge.
Like all major multinationals, GE has seen its stocks decline steadily over the last two years due to the ongoing economic crisis. Like every other capitalist, Immelt has assumed no responsibility for the crisis but has attacked the living standards of workers. In response to the crisis, Immelt has increased health-care premiums, cut salaried and hourly jobs, and shifted production to countries where GE is able to super-exploit workers.
In return for his participation in the oppressive occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the dramatically increased exploitation of workers, Immelt’s total compensation for 2008 was over $14 million. The devastation he has helped to heap on working people, however, is categorically unquantifiable.
