The strategy for a conspiracy

There are no conspiracies, no governmental secretes to control our lives, no multinational banks that control the economies of the world, and the sheer mention of these possibilities would put you on the fast track to the loony bin.  There may not be a conspiracy but there is a strategy!

We all strategize and plan, coordinate, manipulate, maneuver and influence, it’s human nature to try to get ahead of the pack, but the problem is not simply moving a bit faster than the crowd, or stepping off onto a different path, the issue is what the large corporations do as they strategize to gain control, increase market share toward their goal of ultimate power.

The first mantra of the business world is “how to we add value”.  Without added value there is no reason to continue. Value brings profits and profits allow for expansion and expansion is power and power is control.  The very essence of the large multinational corporations is no different than the small mom and pop corner store, making money.  But the means by which they achieve that goal is the difference between simply working every day and the strategy of globalization.

Globalization in itself is the pursuit of free trade, open borders, opportunities and a truly free world economy, but the globalization of a corporation is quite different.  Let’s start with a quick scenario:  Imagine a small software company started by a very motivated young man.  He develops a good product and is able to sell that product effectively.  Like all business the saturation of the market naturally prevents unlimited growth forcing the young man to change or add to his product base. 

Soon the young man has multiple revenue streams and is able to buy his way into new markets by purchasing his competitors business or even more effectively destroying the competition through a variety of means, negative adds, political favors, espionage etc.  The young man is developing a strategy similar to those used by other great corporate giants like the old railroad, steel and newspaper tycoons used.  It’s important to keep in mind that the number one goal in business is to make money…period.  There is really nothing wrong with making money, we all need it but it’s in how we make that money that creates the problem.

In the young man scenario he could continue to expand and globalize, ever seeking more markets and more power and more control with no end in sight a vicious cycle very similar to a battle strategy to increase land area by taking from others.  Corporate strategy is the same as war strategy.  If you've ever read The Art of War   by Sun Tzu, you’ll understand.

The globalization of business may seem beneficial to many, especially when our products come cheaper and are more available but the subsequent cost of that availability will almost always produce a level of dependence that can be manipulated.  That manipulation is very seldom positive and requires an imbalance in human activity in order to maintain the current need and supply.  Good examples can be found throughout history.  When one civilization or people has a continuing need they or those that supply that need resort to inhuman methods to ensure continuity. 

Sweat shops, work houses, the pyramids, the coal mines, the railroads, present day taxes, to name just a few.  The corporate giant will find a way to amass the means to supply the needs in order to line their pockets with unimaginable profits.  The strategies of the old ways have changed but the goals are the same.  The banking industry is a long way from the dreamy vision of, It’s a wonderful life; it has taken on a much more sinister level of oppression and greed more akin to the recent movie of The international. 

There may not be a secret conspiracy but the evidence of illicit strategies is well known and documented.    The number one goal for almost all corporate concerns is to make money, the more money the better.  The simple truth is often avoided but the reality is brought to bear using the words of Abraham Lincoln:

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

—U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins)

The global corporate concern is indeed the new monarchy.  Abraham Lincoln was right and that oligarchy of power is firmly held in the hands of a few.  According to Forbes there are approximately 147 companies that control almost everything. 

They discovered that global corporate control has a distinct bow-tie shape, with a dominant core of 147 firms radiating out from the middle. Each of these 147 own interlocking stakes of one another and together they control 40% of the wealth in the network. A total of 737 control 80% of it all. The top 20 are at the bottom of the post. This is, say the paper’s authors, the first map of the structure of global corporate control. http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-companies-that-control-everything

The real truth is who are they and who controls those companies?  Who are the few who wield the power over our lives?  This is not about the corner store owners desire to open another store in order to make a few extra dollars to send his daughter to college, no, this is about the giant retailer’s corporate board and the few massively rich leaders who care nothing about the store owner, or his daughters education and only want the point or two of market share that helps maintain their life style and pursuit of total control and power.  It’s about those in governments and those same few who manipulate policy, motivate law makers and influence countries and financial markets though evil strategies that will if not stopped ruin us all.

The simple solution, stop buying from well funded, massive concerns and buy from those that make.  Use the corner store, frequent the local hardware shop not the big box retailer.  Don’t go to the multinational of anything.  We actually hold the power to change our lives, at least we do for now….