The Corporate Powers That Get Between Us
When my neighbor cuts my hair for me, I see no reason why some of the money I pay her should go to some millionaire in New York or Texas. But that’s exactly what happens if I get my hair cut at Walmart or Cost Cutters.
A lot of people complain when they have to pay tax on purchases and transactions, but that money is at least ostensibly going to pay for schools and roads. And if our tax money is not going to pay for things that are of benefit to us, it is only because the millionaires getting paid for your neighbor cutting your hair are using that money to influence politicians and enact laws.
So if you want to limit the amount of your tax dollars being wasted, limit the amount of money you give to the person who stands between you and the person who provides you with goods and services. The less you give him, the less money he’ll have to buy our government.
Keep in mind that if you don’t do what you can to keep these corporations from getting in between you and your neighbors, they are only going to keep finding new ways to do so. They’ve recently gotten in the delivery driver game with Door Dash and Grubhub. My local veterinary clinic was recently bought out by a large corporation and now I’ve heard that a corporation is in town looking to buy up local funeral homes. I kid you not.
They’re not just looking to get in between you and your neighbors, either, they’re looking to get in between you and the natural world. A half-century ago, people would have been horrified to think that we would all be drinking water from plastic bottles and giving control of our water resources to corporations like Nestles. Corporations are patenting the genes of the food you eat and it’s only a matter of time before they will be patenting the genes of your offspring. Corporations need to grow at all costs, and they’ve already bought up just about everything else.
I know it’s impossible to avoid giving your money to corporations entirely, but we have to refrain from doing so whenever possible while we are still able. We have to exercise the choices and the freedoms we still have before even those are taken from us by corporations that will never be sated. This is a fight we must fight if we have any interest in the future of our children and the planet itself.
Buy local, buy small, don’t buy at all. Use cash, not a credit card that takes a cut out of every transaction. Order the pizza from a local pizzeria and pick it up yourself if the only other option is Grubhub. Get creative, get involved, and fight the fight.