# Mega Corporations Ruling America **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792 "2011-01-24T16:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NewDeb2011](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dec6dc/32.png) [@NewDeb2011](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NewDeb2011)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/1 "2011-01-24T16:06:53Z")
Has anyone noticed that all the big corporations are out of control (watch any documentary about anything) and no one is talking about it? Corporations are censoring the news, squashing facts that show them in a bad light, and are totally screwing the “Little People”. Recently I have watched documentaries about bottled water, food production (factory method of “farming”), pollution, and other environmental nightmares that are making people sick. The government seems unaware of how global this has become, and so do most people!:smack::eek: Am I alone in noticing this?? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/2 "2011-01-24T16:08:35Z")
Quashing. I watched a documentary about birds of paradise last night. Nothing about corporations in it. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/3 "2011-01-24T16:10:54Z")
You sure the corporations didn’t _make_ you watch that bird documentary to distract you from the Truth? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/4 "2011-01-24T16:12:13Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > You sure the corporations didn’t _make_ you watch that bird documentary to distract you from the Truth? You could be right. There was a scene where one of the birds had been squashed. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/5 "2011-01-24T16:14:35Z")
> [@NewDeb2011](#): > > Recently I have watched documentaries about bottled water, food production (factory method of “farming”), pollution, and other environmental nightmares that are making people sick. Yeah, it’s really sad how the life expectancy is on a downward spiral. Infant mortality is at an all-time high. And it’s all the fault of Big Corporations. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/6 "2011-01-24T16:15:58Z")
> [@](#): > > (watch any documentary about anything) [QUOTE=John Mace] I watched a documentary about birds of paradise last night. Nothing about corporations in it. [/QUOTE] It was allegorical. The birds migrating represented offshoring, and gravity represented mans struggle against the forces of the big corporations trying to keep them down. And I’m sure you know what the clouds and wind represented… :eek: -XT ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/7 "2011-01-24T16:23:46Z")
Hey, **NewDeb** : Now that I got the snarkiness out of my system, just a word of advice. You need to come up with a reasonable well-thought-out OP around here to be taken seriously. Your OP was just a random rant at corporations. Pick something specific and make your case. And we usually ask for better cites than “watch any documentary about anything”. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/8 "2011-01-24T16:34:49Z")
I personally agree that many corporations have too much power and that they do work to slant the political debate. Slanting the debate in their favor is what PR is all about after all. I also think that increasing life expectancy is kind of off tangent and doesn’t disprove that. That said, **John Mace** has a point. Especially in the Great Debates forum, you need to narrow your focus beyond a criticism of big corporations in general. You’re new and you’ll catch on. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/9 "2011-01-24T16:36:46Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > You’re new and you’ll catch on. Well, (s)he’s new. We’ll see about the second half of the question. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/10 "2011-01-24T16:49:39Z")
For various reasons I’m guess we may not see the OP back to follow up. -XT ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/11 "2011-01-24T16:53:26Z")
> [@NewDeb2011](#): > > Has anyone noticed that all the big corporations are out of control (watch any documentary about anything) and no one is talking about it? Corporations are censoring the news, squashing facts that show them in a bad light, and are totally screwing the “Little People”. > > Recently I have watched documentaries about bottled water, food production (factory method of “farming”), pollution, and other environmental nightmares that are making people sick. > > The government seems unaware of how global this has become, and so do most people!:smack::eek: Am I alone in noticing this?? What is your Modest Proposal, then? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/12 "2011-01-24T17:50:18Z")
> [@NewDeb2011](#): > > Corporations are censoring the news . . . But, we all know liberals control the media. The corporations are liberal?! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/13 "2011-01-24T18:07:17Z")
The OP is of course posting from a computer that was handmade by Native American craftsmen. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/14 "2011-01-24T18:10:16Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But, we all know liberals control the media. > > The corporations are liberal?! 🙂 There is no such thing as the “Liberal Media”. The New York Times is owned by NYT Incorporated which is a subidiary of Albion Ballistic Dynamics which is owned by the Murdock family who are owned by Halliburton. ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/15 "2011-01-24T18:24:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > There is no such thing as the “Liberal Media”. The New York Times is owned by NYT Incorporated which is a subidiary of Albion Ballistic Dynamics which is owned by the Murdock family who are owned by Halliburton. No… I am Spartacus!!! Haven’t checked my 401k lately, but I’m pretty sure most index funds and pensioners have a stake in Halliburton or at least include it in their benchmarks. To the OP, [We have met the enemy and he is us.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogo_(comic_strip)) (and I’m ok with that :)) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/16 "2011-01-24T18:25:20Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > The OP is of course posting from a computer that was handmade by Native American craftsmen. Yes, computers are made by corporations. That does not address the question about whether or not some corporations are out of control. It’s logically possible for both things to be true. [ul] [li]Corporations make computers.[/li][li]Some corporations are out of control.[/li][/ul] The two statements are not mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/17 "2011-01-24T18:27:49Z")
Computers are made by corporations. Corporations are out of control. Therefore, computers are out of control. I for one welcome our new Skynet overlords. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/18 "2011-01-24T18:30:12Z")
I dunno… it seems that problems like pollution or ‘news control’ would happen anyway. If power were amalgamated in a different system than the corporate one, we’d be pointing our fingers at something else. Because we would still have our mega societies with voracious demands for a million and one consumer or information products, with at least similar results. What is the OP’s solution? Memo the government about out of control corporations? Then what? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/19 "2011-01-24T18:33:13Z")
So we should throw up our hands and say it’s all unavoidable? We should fight to keep such things under control as much as possible regardless of the cause. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792/20 "2011-01-24T18:35:33Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Yes, computers are made by corporations. That does not address the question about whether or not some corporations are out of control. > > It’s logically possible for both things to be true. > > [ul] > [li]Corporations make computers.[/li][li]Some corporations are out of control.[/li][/ul] > The two statements are not mutually exclusive. And the pedants are out. I KNEW someone would say this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-corporations-ruling-america/568792.md?page=2)