Editing RoboCop (section)

=== Corporate power ===
[[File:President Ronald Reagan addresses the nation from the Oval Office on tax reduction legislation.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of President Ronald Reagan presenting tax-reduction legislation|President [[Ronald Reagan]] addressing the nation in 1981 on tax reduction. ''RoboCop'' satirizes Reagan's political policies espousing limited regulation, trickle-down economics and a pro-business agenda.]]
A central theme in ''RoboCop'' is the power of corporations. Those depicted in the film are corrupt and greedy, privatizing public services and gentrifying Detroit.<ref name="UproxxRetro"/><ref name="SyFyThemes"/> A self-described [[hippie]] who grew up during the [[Watergate scandal]] and the [[Vietnam War]], Miner was critical of Ronald Reagan's pro-business policies and believed that Detroit was destroyed by American corporations.<ref name="EsquireOral"/><ref name="UproxxRetro"/><ref name="IndieWire10Things"/> The Detroit presented in the film is described as beset by rape, crime and "Reaganomics gone awry", where [[gentrification]] and unfettered capitalism result in corporations waging war as the police become a profit-driven entity.<ref name="IndieWire10Things"/><ref name="WaPoReviewKempley"/><ref name="ChicagoReaderReview"/> Miner said that out-of-control crime was a particularly Republican or right-wing fear, but ''RoboCop'' puts the blame for drugs and crime on advancing technology and the privatization of public services such as hospitals, prisons and the police.<ref name="UproxxRetro"/> Although criticism of Reagan-era policies was in the script, Verhoeven did not understand urban politics such as the [[Private prison|privatization of prisons]].<ref name="SFX"/><ref name="LATimesVerhnMakesGood"/> Weller said that the [[trickle-down economics]] espoused by Reagan was "bullshit" and did not work fast enough for those in need.<ref name="SFX"/>

Michael Robertson described the Media Breaks throughout the film as direct criticisms of [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] Reagan policies. Robertson focused on OCP's claim that it has private ownership of RoboCop, despite making use of Murphy's corpse. The Old Man was based on Reagan, and the corporation's policies emphasize greed and profit over individual rights. The police are deliberately underfunded, and the creation of RoboCop aims to replace them with a more efficient force. Jones admits that it does not matter if ED-209 works, because they have contracts to provide spare parts for years. He plots with Boddicker to corrupt workers brought in to build Delta City with drugs and prostitution.{{sfn|Robertson|2008|pp=219–220}} Davison believed that the film is politically [[Liberalism|liberal]], but the violence makes it "[[fascism]] for liberals".<ref name="IndieWire10Things"/> It takes a pro-labor stance; the police chief, believing in the essential nature of his service, refuses to strike but the underfunded, understaffed and under-assault police eventually walk out. OCP sees the strike as an opportunity to develop more robots.<ref name="VulureThemes"/>