Not #1 Anymore

Well, we had a good run as a leader nation. In a way, we are still leading, I suppose. Now, however, we want to lead in the opposite direction. We want to lead away from those silly ideas we once held so dear; ideas such as: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."

If not ideals, then what are we following? Capitalsim, for starters. We are now a government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. (how long have we been? i am only just realizing this.) Capitalism is not patriotic, unless being patriotic is in the best interest of capitalism. Let's look at the holiday that just passed: Memorial Day.
What is memorial day? I'd be willing to bet that if you asked a group of random people the majority of answers would have something to do with cooking outside or a sale at (insert business name here) Capitalism has destroyed the meaning of Memorial Day.

Here are a couple of simple questions to help understand the difference:
Which is more "patriotic": to employ "fellow countrymen" or to send the work to other countries?
Which is more "capitalistic"?

UPDATE:
Now for a specific example: (hattip to democraticunderground forums)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal -- effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge plays out.