• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Big Business and Government: Grand conspiracy or ramblings of a mad man?

For a good 10 years i have believed that there has been a war fought, on a global scale, between two Super-powers; National Government and Big Business. Here are my thoughts of why i believe that and why i believe that the 'fraud' accusation both against and by Trump, are a smoke-screen to finally undermine the rule and truth of government. Where i discuss the 'believable truth' it's worth noting that 'truth' doesn't always have to be true. If a person or group were to lie 100% of the time, it's easy to catch them out. But if they lied 10% of the time, with believable lies, they could , over time, get away with more elaborate lies.

I've given a quick sentence describing each spoiler, with a wall of text that shows my workings. Let's have at it:




Government used to use it's military might to pave the way for businesses to set up shop in the new world, or to coerce countries and other governments in to accepting the new business, product, idea or trade deal. A good example of this is First opium war between The British Empire and China, 1839-1843.

.

Historically in the west, the Government using it's military power, paved the way for businesses to set up new ventures. The best and easiest observable examples come from the British Empire. When the businesses wanted to set up in India, flood China with Opiates or set up shop in the new world, the Empire would dispatch the British Armed forces to defend the business, destroy competing business, or strong-arm local governments in to creating new legislation. None of that is conspiracy or hard to prove. Have a look at First Opium War - Wikipedia for reference.

Nowadays though, the governments are hampered by nations and national lines. Back in the day of the Empire, the Businesses were able to set up anywhere, with the backing of the government. Nowadays though, the British Army can't strong-arm Google in to buying Amazon any more than the American government can expand Samsung in to Russia. This creates a problem; Business is left high and dry. It has no military power behind it. Sure, it can lobby the American government to use whatever influence it has in another country, to persuade that country to be more accepting of Amazon, but they cannot force the issue like they did before. On top of that, there has never been a separation in reach, between an Empire or Nation State and its' Business.

In this situation, where business is global and government is national, there is an issue; How does a business operate and expand in to other, sometimes hostile, markets, without the backing of Government or the Armed Forces? The answer: I have no idea. But they've somehow managed it. And not only have they managed it, but these big businesses and mega-corps, now have the power to hold nations hostage. For example, we have all heard the argument of forcing Amazon, Facebook and Google to pay their fair share of tax, yet we cannot, as those companies would leave (The Uk in this example) costing jobs etc. leaving the government with no choice but to accept these demands. Yet, Amazon et al aren't threatening to leverage the American government and her forces, to storm the beaches of Brighton to scare BoJo in to submission. The businesses are doing that, without government assistance.

A quick look in to the Business round table and the European round table shows us that the biggest businesses in the West are coming together to find workarounds of local labour laws, health and safety initiatives and the unionising of the workers. Worse than all of that, is how the BRT and ERT in their respective territories are strong arming local government to not only agree with them, but to push these governments in to global grouping. For example, the ERT backed the European union in to formation. Now, the EU will only take business cases that come through the ERT filter, largely ignoring the need of local government, in favour of the EU's super-state government. We can all guess where and why this is happening.

_______________________________________________________

The recession of 2008 cost the governments a lot of money. Money that was forced out of their pockets to bail out Banks and big business. While tax increased on citizens and governments had to cut back on social programs, the rich became a lot richer.


This part is not so easy to prove or to link sources to and relies heavily on feelings, over facts. A concept we are all well aware of and how pervasive it has been for and in, big tech companies. The same companies that were mentioned in the previous part; Amazon, Google, Facebook. Something changed in or around 2008. Something large, a seismic shift in society. All forms of media, from movies, tv to gaming, with heavy emphasis on gaming as it's the most noticeable change contrasted to only 10 years previous. A change that has continued in the same direction for the 10 years succeeding the 2008 recession. The quality of products from cars to tech, all dropped in quality, while maintaining their price tag. You could argue "Boswollocks, you idiot, products got cheaper because the world was going through a recession, not because of a grand power grab from the government". You'd be correct in that argument, if it wasn't for the fact that the rich, got richer while the masses suffered.

But who foot the bill? Not business. The government. I'm not going to get in to the ins and outs, causes and effects of the recession and its bail-out, as that's a whole other monster. What is easy to see, is that the governments bailed out the banks to the tune of Billions, all while companies jacked up their prices, while still earning record earning for their shareholders and CEO's. Yet, the government handed that money out while bent over a barrel. Strong-armed in to it's position because of threats of closures, CEO's leaving the country and job losses. None of which look good on the Prime Minister or President's record book.

_______________________________________________________


2008 recession was a successful power grab. Economists and experts predicted a recession in 2020 or 2021. Here we are, not in recession, but in a state of super power grab

Another power grab?

Since April, the west has lockdown, forced it's citizens in to complete or partial isolation, has killed thousands of businesses, crippled the economy and has had just a crappy time of it. While we, the people, discuss the masks, the lockdowns and the vaccines, the government is yet again paying hand-over fist to keep people paid. Think about that for a second. Companies that have suffered little, or no disruption during lockdowns and the pandemic are now, yet again holding the government over a barrel and are forcing the government to pay the wages of employees. That's right, companies that have more financial fire-power than most countries in the West, are now forcing local governments to pay the wages of their employees, all the while, these companies sit on Billions, and in one case a Trillion dollars, are taking money out of the governments pocket. Not to go too deep in to it, but that money pays to keep the country ticking over. Be it in social welfare, housing, hospitals, bin collection of the police force (keep this in mind, we will revisit it in the end).

But this isn't about financials, or savinggranny, this is about control. Think about this; If the government has made the decision over which businesses can and can't stay open, why is it that the biggest companies have had the best treatment? Because big business has stuck the knife in and is twisting it. Governments may make the laws, but they are largely powerless at controlling international companies whose headquarters often reside on the other side of the country, continent or world.

Regardless of origin or intent of Covid and the pandemic, one thing is clear; the big businesses just got bigger and national government just became weaker. With the rise of Globalism, the looming threat of The Great Reset and the EU flexing their super-state powers against individual countries, can we still deny that Big Business isn't out to destroy small government?

You may be wondering "O.K. that's all gravy, but what the hell has this got to do with anything?" Well, it comes down to the next power-grab: The American Election.

_______________________________________________________

Donald J Trump. Businessman, T.V. personality and divisive politician. I believe he was put in place to represent Big Business and circumvent government, but he went rogue and instead went against the very people who put him in place. His personality used to push an easy narrative of 'fraud' and 'Russian collusion' when he won and his personality was used again when 'fraud' come up in 2020. It's easy to disbelieve Trump, because of the image the media has cultivated. Trump vs Biden is just a smoke screen for the Ministry of Truth to get their foot in the door and make what they say, more believable than what the government says, on select topics

January 20th 2016, The United States of America. Donald J Trump, a businessman, TV personality and all-round divisive fella, won the American Election, clinching it from Hillary Clinton. In the aftermath of this win, a win which pollsters and pundits declared almost impossible, the election was declared fraudulent. According to some, Russia had interfered with the Election, using subversive tactics, internet meme's and some apparently shady practices in which the Russians helped old Don seal the deal. We know what happened next; America split in two. Groups of #notmypresident twitter activist spammed online forums declaring Trump an all-round bad egg. While Trump supports hand-waved it away declaring there was no proof. Whichever side you're on - if you're on a side that is - you're well aware of what happened. The significance is that we are seeing the same issues unfold, but the roles are reversed.

_______________________________________________________

BLM, Antifa and defund the police. While BLM may have started from honest beginnings, it has been co-opted and taken over by big business. We saw the Black Square for BLM on social media and 'Take the Knee' in sports. Yet none of this is natural and it has only been kept alive through pressure from Businesses, not from government. It's intent is to weaken the police, one of only two arms that protect the government, and instead replace them with private security firms contracted out to big business. If the citizen doesn't believe the government, how could they be reasonably expected to protect them?


The next-step in taking power from governments is to leave them defenceless. As it stands, there are arms of the governments; the police and the armed forces.

Let's take a look at the Police. We've seen riots in America, under the banner of Black Lives Matter. An innocent organisation wanting to raise awareness of the discrimination faced by the Black community when confronted by the Police. There's nothing wrong with that, it's a genuine mission statement and a group that just wants to see less people killed. It has been co-opted and pushed across our screens by...you guessed it, our magnanimous friends; Big business. They are also backing Antifa to pull down statues, change names of places and erase all old traditions that may be seen as Racism or white-supremacist. Do you know what else falls in to the category of "Start by slave owners, run by white people"? Government.

I believe this is for the sole purpose of removing the police from service, weakening the government and ultimately forcing you, the citizen, to hire private security (through none other than big business). If the police is defunded and riots break out across America, then the government has failed and it's down to big business to save us. Unless of course you slag them off, disagree with their truth or do anything they find distateful. Speaking of which, i hope you enjoy dining on Cockroach and Locust

_______________________________________________________


We come full circle. The media, the mouth-piece for big business, is allowing both sides of the aisle to fight, while offering one of those sides (the side that supports the Great Reset, Big Brother and globalism) the 'believable truth'. Would they believe Biden and the Dems stole the election? Would they believe Trump won? They don't now. Why would they in the future? This isn't about sides though, it's about the Media and big business becoming the arbiter of truth.

Orwell's 1984 always depicted a government figure running the show. I believe he was wrong there, it won't be government, but a huge mega-corp. 70's sci-fi was right.

Trump, now accusing the Chinese of helping Biden win this election, is causing quite a disturbance, one so powerful that our old friends, Amazon, Google and Facebook have stepped in to help us, the people, decide what is the truth and what isn't. Now, you may be thinking "we know the truth", unfortunately, nobody does and nobody will do, because the truth has become subjective. So Subjective that it makes you wonder who calls the election? We have seen the latest uproar and upset over Twitter, Youtube and Facebook censoring discussion of supposed election fraud. Some will tell you that this is to make sure you only receive the facts. But if the facts are represented by those who don't represent the government - I don't remember seeing Eric Schmidt's or Jess Bezos' name embossed on a name plate, prefixed with the words 'Attorney General' or appearing in the Supreme court as a judge. That doesn't stop their organisations from telling you that they are the truth. One would be forgiven for comparing this to 1984's Ministry of Truth, a comparison trotted out so often for its' resemblance and modern day tech, that it's almost a cliché of itself.

Now we can circle back to the previous examples of big business doing what it can to over-rule the will of the government, or at the very least side-step and circumvent it. So what's stopping these same businesses, undermining the government on, well, anything? We all have examples of the Media mis-representing the facts or flat out lying, offering no apology when caught. What about the times where they lie and aren't caught? What about the well known 'facts' about North Korea. Yet we believe the media that Kim Jong killed his uncle with a mortar, without question, because it sounds believable. Biden winning the election also sounds believable. To be clear, I'm not here to question whether or not Biden has or hasn't won. I'm here to ask, "has it been sold by the Media companies (owned by big businesses) that it is believable that there is no election fraud and that Trump has lost?" Again, i don't care who has or hasn't won, it's more about the believability of a story, propagated and cascaded by big media in an attempt to undermine the validity or truth of an election.

Why? Because if the media and/or big business can make you believe their truth over objective truth, then the final nail in the coffin of local government is hammered in.


_______________________________________________________
Best case I'm insane. Worst case, we fugged.
Big Business has used the Media Hydra to attack on many fronts; Movies, MSM, Gaming, Politics, Celebrity and social media to erode the trust in, and want of, government. They have systematically stripped power, reach and influence from local governments, while putting those resources in to 'global' governments. This, i believe, reached a tipping point in 2008 and no more than 12 years later, i believe we are seeing their final plans; to undermine the truth of law and instead replace it with convenient, believable truth for common layman.
 

teezzy

Banned
Neither of them are looking out for your best interest, and they absolutely are in cahoots with one another. They have to be. It's all about money and power at the end of the day and you cant trust either.

Take it from me: I'm 'corporate bad guy' for a living, and believe me, the 'common man' ain't so innocent either.

Bottom line: everyone kinda sucks and life is too short.
 
Neither of them are looking out for your best interest, and they absolutely are in cahoots with one another. They have to be. It's all about money and power at the end of the day and you cant trust either.

Take it from me: I'm 'corporate bad guy' for a living, and believe me, the 'common man' ain't so innocent either.

Bottom line: everyone kinda sucks and life is too short.
Fair cop. I could have painted it in more of a neutral light

Everyone is out for their own best interest and I agree with the capitalist hussle, to a point
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
I haven’t read all of that, I won’t lie to you Bos. But I do have this to say:

Governments and businesses are all just people who got jobs at the end of the day. One side’s official job is to set rules, and the other’s is to make money and protect their own interests. When these people mix and people see behind the curtain, all mystique and (likely) respect for the big, all powerful government. Especially given that everyone who’s ever had a job knows someone who isn’t qualified for that job. They’re not there because they’re the best, they’re there because they either knew someone or because they were the best available at the time. That happens in government all the time. Look at the Trump nepotism, for an obvious recent example. Once you realise that’s going on everywhere, corporations who have people that rose to the top because they’re ruthless fucks will take advantage of anyone and anything they can.

Based on that alone, I wouldn’t be particularly surprised if the premise of the thread is happening.
 
Top Bottom