concentration

Events forced me to fly across the country. Because the old bereavement fares have gone the way of free (and tasty) meals, in-flight movies, free baggage check and an airport experience not out of Lockup Raw, USAirways got quite the bite out of my wallet. The flight was late and several restrooms on the 757 were not working. Of course the entire process — from getting out of the taxi under the din of recorded commands to reaching the gate area which never has enough seats for waiting passengers — was a joy.

The airlines don't care. We're stuck. Where in 1936, Franklin Roosevelt announced that never before in American history had the forces of money and privilege been arrayed against one candidate, and "I welcome their hatred," now the situation is reversed. More and more, highly concentrated industries and the moneyed elites welcome our hatred, then keep on tightening the screws. Americans sheepishly accept the hatred and queue right up for more.

Other sectors come to mind beyond airlines, health insurance and "financial services" at the top of the list. President Obama seems determined to get insurance industry "buy in" on health care reform, so we know how that song will end. It's appropriate to remember our friends the bankers on the anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers. A year later, the TARP money is unaccounted for, the industry is more concentrated and thus dangerous than ever, and real regulatory reform appears DOA. And for these privileges, Americans will get ever more gouged on banking fees and insurance premiums — if they can even keep the latter. Meanwhile, executive salaries and profits keep rising.