Solution to corporate monotony in America
I believe many American corporations (many of which have become trans-national) are guilty of reckless expansion in addition to already well-documented social and environmental irresponsibility. The word "nationwide" has come to mean that there is at least one national chain with stake in not just every American state, but every American acre, and acres abroad as well. These corporations have bottomless pockets, giving them the ability to stamp out any unique, locally owned and operated business that they would like. Already, American cities are fairly monotonous - stray away from major cities with strong identities like NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco, and you'll find that there often isn't much to say about a lot of smaller American cities.
From a purely economic point of view, a business owner would logically have the right to expand his or her business. (I don't use the word "naturally" or "fairly", since I don't believe that is the case.) However, this expansion can get out of hand and can result in an oligopoly, one pitfall of free market capitalism. For instance, to many, the American restaurant scene is dominated by a small number of restaurants holding a significant percentage of the market share. With any industry, eventually, whoever's got the biggest slice of the pie is going to be drowning in money. And all too often that money isn't used for public good, but rather for private greed. Did you know that the only legal obligation of a corporation is to raise profits for those who own stock in it?
Capitalism is, all-in-all, a decent system, but needs strict checks in place to keep it from getting out of hand.
From a purely economic point of view, a business owner would logically have the right to expand his or her business. (I don't use the word "naturally" or "fairly", since I don't believe that is the case.) However, this expansion can get out of hand and can result in an oligopoly, one pitfall of free market capitalism. For instance, to many, the American restaurant scene is dominated by a small number of restaurants holding a significant percentage of the market share. With any industry, eventually, whoever's got the biggest slice of the pie is going to be drowning in money. And all too often that money isn't used for public good, but rather for private greed. Did you know that the only legal obligation of a corporation is to raise profits for those who own stock in it?
- My ideas to help combat corporate monotony - best implented simultaneously:
- Do away with Wall Street. Obviously, easier said than done and a little on the radical side. Wall Street is the manifestation of a market economy at its worst. Let's back up a paragraph to where I mentioned that pie. Why do we need that pie? Who cares about market share? Since the only legal obligation of a corporation is to raise profits for the owners and the shareholders, there's a good chance that those people only want money so they can indulge their never-ending selfish material pleasures, like a private jet or a multibillion-dollar estate... especially considering that the wealthiest 20% of Americans own 80% of American stock.
Wall Street plays no part in the everyday life of anyone who does not own stock. It's that simple. And since the very, very wealthiest class in society needs to get back in touch with what's really important in life anyway, getting rid of Wall Street doesn't sound like such a bad idea. - Control market share with taxes. I think a steep "expansion" tax on any corporation with over 25% of the share in its market and a lighter tax on any with over 10% would eventually lead to massive corporate downsizing. Along with that, major tax incentives for locally owned and operated businesses - especially startups - would allow more unique businesses to take their spots. In time, this would eliminate any need for the market share concept at all. As an additional measure, expansion beyond one store could be outlawed. Supply and demand exists just the same on a local scale and if it is easy and cost-effective enough (through tax incentives) to start a business, then someone in every community is bound to go into business to meet that local demand. On the same line of thought, expansion into foreign markets should be forbidden, and all American-owned chain stores outside the US should be closed.
Restaurants and grocery stores, I think, more than any other type of business, reflect the negative effects of corporate domination. Anywhere in the US, you can order than same dish off the same menu in an atmosphere decorated the exact same way with waitresses who look exactly the same. And who knows where the food used to make that dish came from. Unfortunately, no matter where it ends up, it all came from a small number of suppliers (dominating their market - big surprise there) - meaning the fuel used to move that food has polluted the environment on the way and it's not locally grown, so it's not as fresh. - Ban television and radio advertising. Very simple. Advertising is a waste of money, destructive to a person's mental health, and completely unnecessary. Local newspapers, like the Current (Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County), can and do do a great job of promoting local businesses and culture.
Corporations waste tons of money on "public relations" and "marketing": essentially, they have used psychology to develop techniques to magically hypnotize people into buying junk (more often than not, it's junk), thinking a certain way, etc. Most of the time, corporations don't even use advertising to promote their products anymore; they've moved on to "corporate identities" (i.e. brands) and selling lifestyles (which cannot possibly be cultivated by a material thing).
Capitalism is, all-in-all, a decent system, but needs strict checks in place to keep it from getting out of hand.