Lately, I have been watching the Sci-Fi series Continuum (IMDb) on Netflix. One of its futuristic concepts is interesting: corporations taking over the role of governments. As far as I’m aware, no corporation has ever run a country anytime, anywhere. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was incorporated as the first multinational equity-based corporation.
Today, some people fear that multinational corporations (eg, Big Tech) are above the (domestic and international) laws. The plot of Continuum assumes that corporations had to bailout bankrupt governments. In April 2018, the IMF indeed warned for excessive global debt, and in particular US national debt due to their low taxes and high spending (my 2018 blog).
Is it conceivable that a bankrupt Chinese and/or US government would ever need a bailout from their Big Tech companies? Perhaps a more important question is: would Chinese or US citizens accept such a change in government rule? The key issue in their deliberations would be their perception of Freedom. The same issue indeed applies to the Netflix series Continuum.
The diagram below reveals many similarities and few – though crucial – differences.
Essentially, any government is supported by general elections, whether a sham or not. This results in an elected government and a perception of Freedom.
Corporations do not work this way. This may explain why even autocratic regimes are keen to regulate the power of their domestic companies.
In the Power domain of the 7 Belief systems, Money always sides with the winner, which is either Politics or Religion. There has never been a situation in which Money has ruled over both Politics and Religion. Money tends to facilitate rather than rule. Both Politics and Religion always use the Law to regulate the power of Money.
The notion of Corporations ruling the world might only be Fear based. However, the mere fact that even autocratic governments (eg, China, Russia, Turkey) are always keen to curb the power of corporations tells a different story. Clearly, their – and thus our – fears are legitimate.
The threat of corporations ruling citizens, is likely to come from Technology (eg, FT, TC, Wiki). Technology is already replacing Religion in the Power domain of the 7 Belief system (my 2018 blog). Once Money sides with Technology, Politics will be on the losing hand. Is this collusion conceivable? The notion in Continuum is not as farfetched as I would like it to be.
p:Machinery (1985) by Propaganda – artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Motor
Power – force – motion – drive
Propaganda
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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