This whole 737 Max fiasco is simply the most recent illustrations of Boeing’s criminality. It boggles the mind to ponder how and why these safety issues escaped regulatory review or how the aircraft were ever deemed airworthy to begin with. This could only happen in an industry afflicted by the wholesale collapse of regulation and oversight.

But it isn’t just a terrible tragedy caused by Boeing’s greed or hubris or a lack of government oversight. It is also a symptom of a deeper malaise which infests our society, and it could be a harbinger of much worse things to come if we fail to stop the systemic rot that is now deeply embedded in our political, social, and financial institutions.

Aviation experts have declared that Boeing clearly have a systemic problem in “designing, producing and delivering airplanes.”

Boeing’s top executives are quite skilled at generating shareholder profits – at the expense of any sort of cutting-edge engineering. The company’s competitive advantage was always based on corporate espionage, bribery and stock buy-backs: not necessarily the making of quality product. Boeing is now mostly a political machine, with a side business of creating poorly-engineered aerospace and defense products. This is why Airbus is kicking their ass.

Pilots and flight attendants have sued Boeing in an effort to keep the 737 permanently grounded.

Something is wrong with America’s version of capitalism, let’s face it. It’s not just that it’s so unfair and unequal; it is no longer capable of delivering products that even work anymore.

One of the primary reasons for our economic decline is reliance on the (heavily manipulated) stock market and the continuing high and persistent shareholder profits – to the exclusion of maintaining a viable manufacturing base – or a functioning economy.

Over the years, Boeing has used its political connections to monopolize the aerospace industry, and it has essentially bought off all of its regulators in the process. In the 1990s, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged, leaving America with just one major producer of civilian aircraft. Which is what got us into this mess…

Wall Street financiers have taken over our corporations, along with every other aspect of our daily lives. Despite claims of emulating some sort of free market, “laissez-faire” brand of capitalism, the American economic model is based instead on the eventual monopolization of all industry. This model consolidates the wealth into the hands of a very few at the expense of everyone else.

The rule is: “Profits and shareholder value over customers, labor, quality, and anything else that affects the bottom line.” And thanks to the current corrupt system, corporations have literally re-written all of the laws and regulations to protect (and enrich) themselves.

We have the worst income inequality in the history of the world in the USA. No infrastructure development; no national health care; barely any mass transit. America has the highest infant mortality rate of any developed country. We are a global hegemon threatening to destroy the entire planet in exchange for greater shareholder value.

But Boeing will keep on making crappy airplanes and passengers will continue to die when they crash. There are lots of expendable people out there, but only a few hundred really important shareholders whose needs outweigh the desires of the many to go on living…albeit poorly.