Let's face it. Corporations control almost every key nexus in the country. Nearly every resource point from manufacture to household is channeled through them.
Big Corp is both the cause of our prosperity and the source of our destruction. Through many years of planning and strategy, they worked their way up to the "too big to fail" scenario that we are all familiar with. They stand at the top of our society, over all branches of government and every aspect of the economy.
We are all familiar with this at some level or another. So this article is less about how they got there and more about what they actually control and what we can do to wrest control from them. There is a way!
Large corporations Fully...Control...The...Government. The first thing we need to do is take this in and realize it on the level that it needs to be understood. I am not talking about the Democratic or Republican parties here. I am talking about the Administration as a whole. There are differences in the way the messaging comes to us from the Government depending on the party, but this is the reality.
Republican messaging is basically: "Let them control us. We'll gladly bend over for them and do what they want because they'll fix our economy. A little anal cream should make it bearable".
Democratic messaging is more obscure: "They don't... err not control us. We're working to lessen that control so bear with us. In the meantime we'll pump in accessory policies to soften the blow to you, but in the end we don't really want to hurt our masters".
So let's restate what corporations control.
They extract the original resource.
They manufacture the refined product.
They distribute and supply it.
They provide a consumer commerce point for the household to buy it.
If you look at every point along this route, you'll see at the source a big corporation that has bought up the competition and almost solely controls economic function in association with that point.
Big corporations have weak spots, though there aren't many. We'll take a quick look at them to help bolster the strategy I'll be laying out just below.
Their weak spots are:
Government regulations and land control.
The individual consumer.
Reliance on other big corporations.
Availability of resources.
The one thing out of our control here is a corporation's reliance on other corporations. It is just out of our hands. But we, as the individual have the ability to impact the other three, even if just in part.
The first and very vital thing to remember is that we the people built this country. Everything relies on us to pay into it and use it. All marketing, (including the Government btw) is focused on the attempt to make us believe that we are not in control. Marketing wants to create a people's reliance on Government and Big Corp. The more this messaging is successful, the more we buy into it, the more they can gouge us and we just grin and bear it.
It's ultimately up to each individual, but we all have the ability to remove a good portion of that control from corporate hands. I'll outline this strategy now.
It is of the highest importance that we commit ourselves to the perspective that we alone have to do it. We can't rely on Government. We certainly can't rely on the corporations themselves to do the right thing. We must band together as the people of this country and make it happen ourselves.
We influence Government through activism. Protests. Exposing fallacies and making them transparent.
We influence Corporations through boycotting them. Conserving our own resources. Creating and supporting small business.
We influence Corporations through supporting our less well off neighbors. If you provide them with a resource, they won't have to buy it from a corporation.
That's really it. That's what we need to do. You all can take it from here, but I'll provide a few examples to give you a few ideas.
Gas and oil: Wait an extra 1000 miles before changing your oil. Reduce your driving speed by a few MPH. Go for a used economical car if needing to replace yours. Create supply-run days where you stock up so you can let your car sit for a day or two... or more. Choose alternative products that use less plastic packaging.
Technology: Don't replace your cell phone, TV, computer with every new model. Analyze your broadband and/or wireless/fiber plan and see if you can step down your current one. Wait a little longer to replace electronic components if they're working fine.
Waste: Wash & reuse plastic water bottles. Use plastic grocery bags as small trashcan liners. Recycle if you're able. Most food waste can simply be thrown out into the yard. It fertilizes the soil.
Water/Plastic bottles: Don't keep buying bottled water. Get a water filter and re-use your bottles. It is much cheaper in the long run and tastes much better. See if you can find your favorite drinks in cans. They will at least decompose.
Pharma: This is a hard one because they have such a stranglehold on society. The only thing I could suggest is natural alternatives to common ailments. There is a wealth of knowledge that can be found online for natural alternatives in regards to things like the common cold, pain relief, digestive issues, skin conditions and the like. A little research may save you insurance and medicine costs, plus natural alternatives tend to treat the disease more than just the symptoms.
Small business: This is a key element because a small business automatically provides an alternative to big corp. Buying from a small business has numerous upsides and a single, small downside. The prices might be a little higher. But when you think about corporate price gouging, that gap is closing quickly. Small businesses can provide the same goods and services as big corp. They have more integrity. They treat you like a person, not a number. And they are HAPPY to have your business.
If you have the capital, see if you can open a small business. In all cases, use small business in place of big corp whenever you can. Creating a sense of competition is the very thing big corp hates. Patronize them whenever you can. Also, any small business should create a pact, specifying they can't be bought up and rolled into a bigger corporation.
Planned boycotts: Remember the recent Spotify uproar? If enough people get together and plan intermittent boycotts on various companies we will have the effect of lowering demand, which will force them to lower prices.
There is no way. Not ever... that corporations should be allowed to have the amount of control they currently have. But part of the fault lies with us. We bought into the illusion that corporations control the economy, not us. But we are the ones with the real control. If a company loses all of its customers, it closes down. WE are their customers. It sounds simple on the surface, but in practice it will take a large number of people saying they've had enough, and then willing to alter a few creature comforts.
Those are a few options, and making use of all of them together can show big corp that no, they're not in control. We mean business and we will do whatever is necessary to wrest back our own power.
I'll leave it at this. But change your thinking. Make sure to realize that we control the economy. Not them.