Forget Politics, How About Conglomerations?

I was in this post: www.abovetopsecret.com...

And this was what I wrote in response:

I really don't mean to be vulgar, because usually I can control my temper, but ONLY ONE TERM describes these companies appropriately.

F*CKERS.

It proves my hatred of corporate f*ck-assery. Out there, homeless people are shivering in the winter cold. People don't have enough to wear. CHILDREN don't have enough to wear.

And these big conglomerates decide that they've got so the political and corporate clout to just DESTROY these clothes without a second thought.

I'm angry. I got so angry when I read that post.

Corporate charity my ass. Corporations never do anything but for themselves. And now they control our government too, driving their interests - THEY DISGUST ME.

Now I need to calm down. Going off, drinking some lemonade, and going to listen to Owl City or something.

I've been reading so many posts from so many people expressing their scorn and hatred of politicians, but to me, no negative feelings I will ever feel comes close to the hatred and scorn I have for BUSINESSMEN.

Bernie Madoff aside, I mean those leaders of these companies who decide it's okay to destroy these clothes so no one will resell them instead of giving them to people who NEED NEW CLOTHES FOR CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR but CANNOT AFFORD THEM.

Can you imagine how happy people would be if they received the unsold Christmas winter wear? How much WARMER they would be? How much more hope they would have?!?!

No, these businesses don't think about anything, don't imagine about anything but MONEY.

Forget about taking down politicians, I'm going to focus more energy on taking down businesses that pollute the environment, sell our natural resources that we have RIGHTS to BACK TO US (Water, for one, heard about Nestle?), and deprive the needy of precious items.

ARRRRGHHHH!!!

So I've been lookin' around here, and maybe it's my lack of dedication to unearthing old ATS threads, but I realized that many people here focus unnecessarily on politicians.

I mean, sure, a lot of them are painfully incompetent, corrupt, unthinking, and unqualified to lead. But it's not a general thing: many politicians like Olympia Snowe, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye are all pretty competent and they serve their constituents.

To me, the REAL kicker is when I read articles like these. Or watch documentaries showing Nestle bottling OUR WATER to sell back to us (and Evian too) and filing lawsuits to have exclusive rights to COUNTY LAKES. Or when I read other reports of companies not paying out its middle-placed employees right, but can spend millions a year on idiotic things like "corporate travel", "corporate presentation" and "international residence."

To be honest, it pisses me off real good.

And to some of you, reports of politicians behaving badly will get you, but for me, it's these conglomerations. I don't mean the small companies, I mean the Nike, the Adidas, the Wal-Mart, the Asda for you Brits. I don't mean the Men's Wearhouse, I don't mean the Old Spaghetti Factory, or the General Tso's, I mean the KFC, the McDonald's.

My ATS friend ProtoplasmicTraveler posted this somewhere else:

I grew up in an America where you bought American goods, and you didn’t cross picket lines, and you looked to buy local and have a personal relationship with those merchants you purchased locally from.

It was a much more prosperous America as a result of those prudent efforts and disciplines.

Somewhere along the line in the multi-media blitz, the me generation, the on-demand internet age, people have come to believe that their individual actions have no collective impact or power.

But the reality is that they do, people keep looking for saviors in the form of politicians and icons, but the reality is you just have to look in the mirror, and use your own brain and stop and think a bit about the impact of your own actions.

We don’t need more government we need to learn how to truly wisely govern ourselves. Ultimately even a Nanny State can’t do that, only we as individuals can do that.

My response to him was:

Beautifully written.

The good ol' days - I wonder where that went?

Where people knew their roots. Where the small-town thing worked, and everyone knew their neighbors. Where people didn't bristle at the slightest things and demanded to "revolutionize" EVERYTHING - they effected change by going right down to the grassroots, by spreading the word, by talking straight to the people in charge.

In my opinion, CORPORATE REVOLUTION should first occur. Because as we ALL know, governments nowadays are merely fronts - for the BUSINESSES and the BUILDINGS that finance the politicians and "influence" their decisions.

If a business decides gay people shouldn't marry... well, they shouldn't. If a business decides carbon emission reductions will hurt their profits... well, let's cut back down on the quota.

First thing we need to do is STOP supporting the businesses that pump out the bad stuff.

Become more thrifty, just like in the good days. Buy the things we need, and not spend endlessly... would the financial meltdown have occurred otherwise? Would we have indirectly given the banks permission to splurge our money?

If we would ever WANT something, SAVE up for it. Remember the days we didn't earn any money yet? We got our allowance from our parents, and if we wanted anything we WORKED for it. Took up summer jobs. Saved.

I never want to work in my early youth, so I never desire anything technologically-advanced. Yet, now everyone thinks they're ENTITLED to everything.

"Entitlement comes with effort."

Anyone else remember the mom-and-pop shops? The nice neighborhood barber? The ice-cream van, not Haagen Daaz? The nice corner snack Shoppes, not the chain-franchised BK?

Now I know we all need to progress, and move on, 21st century and all, but I'm so sick and tired of these businesses driving government interests, destroying the world, environmentally and socially, that Conglomeration Control is becoming a large issue for me.

Who's with me?

Express your thoughts and opinions here.

[edit on 8-1-2010 by KarlG]