The Reagan Era convinced the majority of Americans to place too much trust and power in large corporations.
This situation hasn't changed since, through the years of the somewhat-decent George I (run out of town for increasing taxes on said corporate elites), Bill the Pedophile (spanked for trying to wrest health care away from corporate medicine) and W (an MBA who is stupid like a fox).
As a result:
- pension funds were neglected by the government, and the MBA's sunk them into stocks, tech funds and risky businesses - then threw up their hands when they became woefully underfunded. The PBGC (read: taxpayer pockets) provided the solution. (This little phenomenon costs my retired UAL uncle about $60,000 a year, by the way);
- unions were trussed, gutted and left to a lingering death. And we can't complain - we handed them the knife. The president of ALPA stood beside Reagan when he fired the controllers (after promising them the moon during the presidential campaign). When USAir's pensions were flushed, we didn't answer our phone (we should have shut the entire system down. Behnke was spinning in his grave that day);
- all the while the satanic feedback-loop of BOD gives bonus to CEO -CEO gives bonus to President - President gives bonus to executives - executives sit on other boards, etc.... has caused us to be the laughing stock of the global industry. Goodwin could have played golf every day and been the CEO of the biggest airline in the world. Instead he drove UAL off a big cliff, and walked away with tens of millions. Same with DAL, USAir, NWA, etc.... At least nobody is telling us how brilliant Al Checci is anymore, but he got to keep his tens of millions.
We're in the 1920's, boys. Somebody dig up FDR, and quick......