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By Don MonkerudTea Partiers Should Be Picketing the Corporations That Dominate Our Lives
Private monopolies determine the breakfast cereal we eat, the car we drive, the medical treatment we receive, what we feed our pets: they're the ones that threaten our liberty. March 4, 2010 |
Although some Americans worry about the growing power of the government, few understand the real power that controls their everyday lives.
Private monopolies determine the brand of breakfast cereal we eat, the type of car we drive, where we bank, the medical treatment we receive, the fashion of our clothes, and the kind of toothbrush we use, in addition to the beer we drink, the health insurance we buy, and what we feed our pets.
Under the guise of "the free market," conglomerates merged and bought up smaller companies, until, today, they dominate their respective markets in every commodity offered for sale in the U.S.
In this race to consolidate, companies "rationalized" their offerings, in many cases dropping up to 40 percent of what they formerly produced. They buy from the same suppliers, use interchangeable parts and common ingredients, and re-name similar brands, essentially placing the same product in different packages. For example, one company produces all of the pet food under 150 different brands. .............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.alternet.org/story/145921/tea_partiers_should_be_picketing_the_corporations_that_dominate_our_lives