This was written by a good friend of mine, one I.W….
I spoke of the abuses of power of but a few corporations. I only know what I know, and I know only what I have searched out. I am sure that between every pile of gold and every great dragon is soft underbelly. How do you, a single person, respond to the machinations of an ubiquitous group of sociopathic, megalomaniacal plutocrats? They have everything. They keep the governments of the free world in their back pockets. They have the law, the layers, the guns and the papers. They own the TV networks and the magazines. Everything you need and everything you buy comes from them. The farmer can make no money unless ConAgra buys his grain. And you will have no baked goods if you don’t buy from ConAgra.
They want don’t sell products. They sell you to the people who sell advertising. I looked up who owns my local paper. The owner is called the McClatchy Co. They’re the 2nd largest media group in the world. Aside from their many TV stations, radio stations, and a partnership with Yahoo.com, they own hundreds of papers. On their website, under the name of my paper is a little bit of me and my neighbors. It tells the average income, racial demographics, local stores, and barometers of attitude and inclination. The stores, the restaurants, and businesses which the paper advertises; these are not the products that the McClatchy Co. sells. I am the product which they sell to the stores, restaurants, and businesses.
They want to stay invisible, because as long as they are invisible you believe the illusion of choice which they have created for you. (Example: You don’t have hundreds of choices for your coffee. You have three: Nestle, Kraft, and Sara Lee.) Many companies spend more on the illusion of their product than they spend on the product. Coke and Pepsi, for instance spend around 50% of their net revenue on advertising. TV is called programming for a reason. Every commercial you see tells you one simple thing: you need this. And you don’t. I don’t. We have 30 brands averaging 16 products per brand for shampoo alone. Thats 480 possible ways to wash your hair. Who the hell needs 480 ways to wash hair.
I can almost hear the half formed thoughts already escaping the lips. Thats the American way! What do you want? Some sort of planned economy? Do you want to live in a gulag? Market control never works. Blah, blah, blah! Ignorant bias! Angry words! Grrrrrrrr! Total lack of independent thinking! I don’t know any history! Mooooooo! Moooo? Moooo! MOOOO! Hang in there, the answer is forth coming.
The companies make money by exploiting individuals, one rube at time. Therein lies key to fighting them. Be the change you want to see. The companies exploit. Do you know the opposite of exploitation? Partnership. Do you know the opposite of centralization? Localization. All we have to do fight the bloated plutocracy is…
1. Remove yourself from mass media streams. (Stop watching your stupid TV.) This denies yourself to the greatest centralized manipulator out there.
2. Stop being exploited. (Quit your pointless job.)
3. Start your own businesses.
4. Stop exploiting. (Don’t be a greedy bastard.) Don’t hire employees to wage slave for you. Get partners.
5. Develop capital and loan only too startup proprietorships that partner instead of exploit. (Again, don’t be a greedy bastard.)
6. Use surplus money to be free (Do whatever the heck you enjoy.) and to help others be free (Support local self sustainability: self defense, homeschooling (self education), and other cooperative businesses, in that order.
If a mere 10% of the population does this, Wal-Mart will not be able to sell 480 shampoos, not because of some stupid law, but because no one will buy their useless crap. More people will ride bikes and less will contribute to the SUV menace. Less people will be on welfare. Less companies will be on welfare.
I know man has a sin nature. I know that no person or thing can make a utopia, but its closer! Does the fact that you can’t reach the stars from a summit mean you shouldn’t bother to climb the mountain? Of course not! MegaCorps are evil. The cowards may go hide in Montanan if they wish, but the fight can be won. Like all things worth having it comes at great personal cost. That the point. We are in the mess we are in because people are afraid of hard work either of the body or the mind. But “They” can be fought. It simply takes virtue, courage, dedication, duty, and compassion.
Ladyrebecca's Musings and Ramblings 