When I think about how we got to the point of having our most basic rights ripped off by governments and corporations I usually have the feeling that I'm leaving out a much more important issue. Initially all preeminent problems seem to be money-driven - somebody somewhere is greedy and wants more money. What a cheap way to put things... somehow we end up with the idea that we can't do anything unless we have enough money to make a dent on the system. But what is really the System?
There is not only one system, but multiple systems or intents coexisting and driving each other. There is also a couple os governments and corporations coexisting is some geographical areas and somehow it's the combination of their multiple efforts that makes certain players gain more or less advantage in this game. One thing is for sure, much of the playing field is pretty much controlled by established powers and they are the reason why it gets so difficult for new players to even have a small chance to compete.
The name of this game is not Capitalism... But isn't Capitalism the word we often hear when talking about how business affects politics? But in fact it's not any -ism that manipulates the playing field - it's the artificial monopolies. And Monopoly doesn't have to be a bad thing - if a market is only big enough for single corporation then that would be a natural monopoly - but the problem is that most monopolies are totally artificial and have nothing to do with market conditions.
This is how our playing field is controlled:
- Central Banks decide who gets access to money.
- Governments need central banks in order to make wars and public investments, since taxes only account for a small percentage of the expenses. Remember that Parties need to control elections to keep their power, and because they have no real leadership and are usually unable to effectively influence voters, they rely on big donations and favours from big corporations: money for big campaigns and news from state and privately owned media channels. Remember that every time you look around you are looking to something either owned by a private corporation or by the state, even your home is really not fully yours, so it's no wonder why nothing happens without some help from the media, government, corporations or organised groups. The only realm not fully controlled by them has been the Internet so far, but even that has also been increasingly controlled and censored...
- The Corporations: The most easy way for big corporations to start building their monopoly is to use their leverage to buy or scare CEOs of potential competing startups into selling their business so that they can be annihilated easier by defunding it - kill all the young companies before they have any real chance to grow and gain more leverage, and how can anybody expect CEOs of startups to give up accepting the millions they are offered in order to give up their control and go enjoy their newly earned money. After that they follow a few stages of growth and once they get to a certain size they start having some power over Governments. If they are in the business of media they can control public opinion, if they are private banks they can give benefits to enable some strategic projects, if they are rich they can donate to political parties (usually both of them) or charity foundations that work on the behalf of the parties. So the next big step for a big corporation is to partner with Governments (any number of them) and ask for special regulations that kill their competition - that's how you get an artificial monopoly. Facebook now has to moderate all their users content, it's mandated by government approved laws, but in the end Facebook doesn't really need to worry much because that's exactly what they need, since these regulations are so expensive now other startups are out of the market and Facebook gets to have the monopoly. We could replace the name of Facebook with, Bayer, Monsanto, Google, Microsoft, Apple, banks... all conduct their business under strict regulations that strip away much of the freedom to create new competing business. I'm addressing all kinds of regulations, even patents and laws that protect intellectual property.
- Lastly we get to talk about a more sensitive organisation - the family. How does it maintain the structures of power? Families basically live in fear. Fear from being excluded, fear from not having a job, fear from the companies they work for, fear from not having the money to make a living, even fear from religion and death, so in the end it's fear that keeps it all together. It makes us give away our kids to the concentration camps called schools that strip away their freedoms early on in life, give away all our private information so that the governments can control better our lives and put us in jail if they please to, manipulate elections with the power of big data and allow many corporations to force their products into our homes by advertisement brainwashing.
So my take away here is: We don't need to break the system, we only need to break monopolies, cartels, break the excess of power that others have over our own lives and families. Read the book from Richard Branson - Loosing My Virginity. The only way to start breaking away from the old model is by doing all we can to break free from the fear that has been instigated for so many years. Freedom doesn't come for free. There is a price to pay and it can be inconvenient. But the rewards of freedom can ripple through the structures of power. And it can have profound impact in other people lives, a demonstration-effect, we learn by watching others.