Servitude of the Century

From the 70's until now, our world and businesses in particular have become interconnected and fully globalized. This enables goods and services to be available at low prices and widely available to large amounts of people. A majority of corporations have chosen to outsource their labor in order to cut costs in places such as China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other developing nations around the world. Unfortunately, this has resulted in extremely low wages for laborers in these nations. Just as an example, JCPenny, Walmart, The Children's Place, and H&M all source a large amount of their labor in Bangladesh; additionally, Free People, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Aeropostale, and Anthropologie were all found to be using child labor in Uzbekistan to harvest cotton. Not only do these companies create crucial human rights concerns, but they also produce devastating amounts of waste in other countries. The waste ends up contaminating water sources, the surrounding environments and damaging communities. 

 Corporations have grown into billion-dollar giants that have exploited populations of foreign countries who are trying to escape poverty and on the environments they choose to source their labor in. Money is the key motivation for corporations even if it means making a dollar on the backs and blood of other human beings. However, not only do these corporations harm foreign populations, but some harm the domestic population as well, in multiple different ways. 

For example, one of the most powerful families in the world is the Koch family, or the Koch brothers. Koch Industries entered the oil industry in 1968 and from there, it became the 2nd largest privately owned company in the U.S. with a revenue of $115 billion per year. The Koch brothers are known to be conservative and have also been known to donate outrageous amounts of money to Republicans. This is an example of the elite using their wealth to buy elections and harming the American people through a rigged democracy. 

Another example is the Walton family, who, combined, is the richest family in the U.S. The Waltons, founders of Wal-Mart, are extremely wealthy and continue to pay their employees extremely low wages. Many Wal-Mart employees require financial assistance in the forms of welfare and food stamps in order to survive. Wal-Mart is a successful corporations that makes billions of dollars but it does not provide for those who serve the company and it exploits people in other nations. 

Present-day corporations are some of the most successful companies of all time and have completely revamped the term "monopoly". Corporations today are parent companies to many smaller businesses and have ungodly amounts of wealth and power. Corporations evolved drastically and changed the essence of business today, making it difficult for small businesses to compete and survive in today's society. Corporations in the early 1900's had issues with workers' rights and safety and working conditions, but measures were taken to reform these issues. More recently, these corporations have taken a dark turn in the last 40 years, turning into money-hungry, exploitative conglomerates that colonize any business that could possibly bring in more profits. Unfortunately, the worst part is that the priority of money comes before human lives and people have been cheated out of jobs, their environments, fair wages, and a fair, democratic society.  These circumstances are easily seen in today's society; overseas, factory fires are happening left and right and building collapses are happening far too frequently, such as the Rana Plaza incident in Bangladesh. A new perspective must be utilized to look into these corporations, not from a financial standpoint, but an ethical one.  

The Ups and the Downs

Following the close of the second world war, there was again a readjustment period to the peacetime economy. With this readjustment period came another increase in the amount of women in the work force, an 18% increase at that. The number of college students doubled, making it a feasible goal, not only one for the elite. In addition, the 50’s brought many technological advancements and powerful companies behind these inventions. The housing industry boomed, resulting in a boom for the Savings and Loan Association and their holdings in mortgages. Even businesses such as Playboy emerged with the newest sexual revolution of the 1960’s.

The atmosphere within corporations had also changed. These changes created office spaces with thin, attractive secretaries and smoke-filled offices full of employees socializing in their free time. Offices were very hierarchical, with women most commonly taking jobs with little skill required, such as secretarial positions This tended to occur even when women were overly qualified for higher positions within a company.

The economic expansion in the 50’s permitted expansion of business and of corporations, both domestically and internationally. General Motors, one of the many businesses that invested at home and abroad, continued to manufacture and sell their vehicles during the war. The growing economy that developed after the war increased GM’s production exponentially. GM produced 112 vehicles in 1948, with an increase to 20,000 vehicles by 1950 and a huge jump to 133,000 by 1962.

This prosperous expansion allowed consumers to increase their standard of living and their purchasing power. This allowed households to "keep up" with society. For example, between 1959 and 1970, the amount of households in the U.S. with a TV rose from 88 percent to 96 percent. This also allowed CBS, NBC, and many other companies that would grow to become household names. 

This time period is a bit more difficult to relate to the present, considering I have not seen this type of prosperity first-hand. The war took a toll on the economy and it had to bounce back once the war ended. Similarly, we had a huge economic recession in 2008 and the housing market crashed and burned before our eyes. As with a post-war economy, the economy had to be rebuilt after the great recession of 2008. The economy now isn't necessarily "prosperous", but it's getting better and the future is looking a little brighter. 

While economic ups and downs are normal, the direction the economy goes correlates with the direction profits for corporations go. The 50's and 60's were great both monetarily and for big business, but the war that occurred directly prior spiked that prosperity. 

Positivity Comes Out of the Negative

World War I, while a devastating and brutal event for a majority of the world, was a key event in creating corporations, jobs for women and minorities, and establishing wartime resources. In the midst of World War I, the War Finance Corporation was a government corporation created in order to financially support industries that were essential during war and to banking institutions that aided those industries. Large amounts of government borrowing were needed to pay for the war and left little money available to corporations; this reason was enough for the creation of the War Finance Corporation. Even after World War I, the War Finance Corporation continued to be a resource for businesses up until World War II where they had a position as a war corporation once again.

Along with the War Finance Corporation, the US Food Administration was formed and employed many corporations in order to send food reserves overseas to both US troops and the soldiers of our allies. This led to the creation and the employment of the US Grain Corporation, which stabilized the price of wheat. Concepts such as meatless Mondays and wheat-less Wednesdays were also started to help with rations,

Not only did the war create new corporations, but it created a new demographic of workers for existing corporations, A majority of the white male population was drafted into the war, leaving jobs available for both women and African Americans. This was the start of women truly joining the workforce and it opened up many new opportunities for the future. 

Changing times call for changing measures. The war enabled women to work and new, needed resources to develop and aid those fighting in the war. Similarly, as times change today, so do the rules. For example, during the war, women were joining the work force which was a huge step for women. Similarly, women have recently gained the right to fight in combat and are consistently gaining important positions of power in government and leading organizations, both domestically and internationally. Also, as new circumstances arise, more organizations develop to aid certain situations. For example, the occurrence of 9/11 resulted in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the expansion of the National Security Agency. 

Corporations are created in times of need and when the need is strong enough, a new demographic may be the workforce for that corporations. The first world war resulted in the creation of war resources and the "war" on terrorism resulted in the increase in security for our country. Women are continuously making strides in corporate America with hopes of similar patterns for the future. Corporations, while still large and in charge, continued to change as well, initially for profit, then for government resources. Corporations were continuously being born, regardless of the purpose, and would continue to change our socioeconomic environments in the early 20th century. 

The Masterminds Behind Monopolies

With the rise of big business, powerful people, and incorporated industries, corporate power shook the foundation of early America. Prior to the late 19th century, there weren't many businesses that had an overwhelming amount of political, social, and economic control. Along with the businesses that overtook the urban environments came the wealthy individuals that accumulated mass amounts of wealth that were incomprehensible to the average American. Among these businessmen were John D. Rockefeller, dominating oil production, Andrew Carnegie, controlling steel, and Swift and Armour, taking on meat production. The were quite a few others who established large companies that turned into national corporations, such as Henry Heinz, Quaker Oats, and General Electric.

The individuals who composed these companies monopolized the markets and had little to no regulation regarding their businesses. In order to avoid any competition, Rockefeller, for example, would buy any other oil production companies and continuously expand his empire. In addition, many companies would also purchase all companies regarding production. For example, Rockefeller had control of drilling, piping, refining, barreling, distributing, wholesaling, and retailing.

Incorporating a company took on a new meaning for business in America. Our textbook, Becoming America, describes the new qualities that an incorporated company had; by incorporating a company, it allowed the business to hire, fire, and create contracts, almost like a person, and it took the risk out of creating a new business by giving the owner protection from personal liability for the company's debts. Considering America hadn't experienced the wrath of corporate power in earlier decades, it's understandable that there weren't any stipulations or regulations on the amount of power one company could exert on the market. The lack of structure allowed the new, power-hungry corporations to completely control the prices of the entire market and to lower their prices drastically, causing the smaller businesses to drive into debt, sell their businesses, or shut down.

Another benefit that the corporate giants inherited was their political power. Many powerful businessmen would ensure that their preferred political candidate would get elected; this would benefit their business because that candidate would usually have the same political interests and would not regulate the big businesses.

Ted Nace, who wrote Gangs of America, discusses the evolution of corporations and what allowed the elite groups to control the markets. He describes the characteristics of corporations as "superpowers", for example, he talks about the shape-shifting abilities of big businesses that allows them to control all steps of production. Another example is that corporations became immortal, having no limit on the company's lifespan. Lastly, the lack of charters released nearly all limits on size, ownership of assets, and other types of growth. This allowed the companies to completely cover and control all aspects of the market with little to no regulation.

The public had mixed emotions regarding the companies, however, when the consumers realized the companies had monopolized the market, their dissatisfaction grew. This left the consumer trapped and unable to make choices that should be available in a free market. The general population was boxed into buying one company's products at any price. The economy no longer embraced a true capitalist structure and the future did not look much brighter.

The monopolistic business structures and the elite group of wealthy business owners is easily related to the corporations of today. For example, the Federal Reserve, a private bank regulating the economy and funding of the United States, has a full monopoly as the only source of funding for our government, aside from taxes. Similarly, Monsanto is the largest producer of both corn and soy beans with a patent on their seeds. Monsanto has caused dozens of small farmers to go bankrupt by accusing them of stealing the Monsanto seeds and filing huge law suits. This is the case for many farmers in small towns, even if they did not steal Monsanto's seeds and the wind just blew one into their property. The elite group who held the wealth is comparable to the one percent of the population now, who is enormously wealthy and hold a majority of America's wealth. Lastly, one of the most important examples is today's media. There is a small group of six companies, Comcast, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS, who control 90% of what we read, watch or listen to today.

While there aren't many people today who realize or care to point out that our illusion of choice is completely false, it is evident that monopolies have never faded out of America's economy. Even if it isn't only one company who is controlling the market, it has become only a very, very small handful. The reality of our corporations is that they haven't changed, there are still very few people benefiting from the mountain of wealth, and we still do not have anything close to a free market economy. With corporate giants squishing and buying their way through any opposition, it allows for minimal competition and a country controlled by corporations.

Hello History 108!

My name is Shawnee and this is my history blog for the 108 class. An interesting fact about me is that I love to travel!
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