Amanita said:because thus far I do not see what you're complaining about.
- Roughly ten years ago the pharmacutical companies realised that because their market share was limited to sick people they were actually missing out on an immense amount of profit. What was their way to remedy this? unfortunately for us there was a fundamental shift in their focus from curing problems to inventing new 'problems' and creating cures for them. Thats right... through massive advertising campaigns they started to teach the general public (aka consumers) that everyday problems like having trouble getting a hard on now need drug treatment (viagra aka one of the most profitable drugs ever invented) or if you are feeling a bit down you shouldnt turn to your freinds for support, no anti-depressents are the answer. Maybe this isnt affecting you yet but the signs are there that these companies are getting more and more aggressive and the bombardment in the media is starting to convince us average joes that something is wrong with us and we need treatment.
- Regarding internet control, I think alot of people are confused as to what/who controls it. Your little ISP does nothing, your local line company likewise does very little. In essence the backbone is controlled by relatively few commercial and goverment entities like Verizon, British Telecom, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, France Télécom, BSNL, Teleglobe, Qwest, and SAVVIS. Luckily for us at the moment legislation protects these key points from complete commercial control. What is concerning is the lobbying that is occuring right now in the US is for the removal of many of these safeguards. The internet is safe for now but lets try and keep it that way things could easily change.
- At the moment the petroleum and mining industry have 'rights' to rape the natural resources of many developing countries. The people in those countries see none of the profits and live in poverty while any future potential for improvement is slowly taken away. The profits from this comes right into our rich economies and supports us in our 'comfortable' lifestyle. The only money that stays in these countries is money paid as kickbacks to the dictators and corrupt governments used in turn to further supress their populace. It is 'our' companies like shell, British petroleum (BP) and Broken hill proprietory (BHP) doing this damage.
Dont get me wrong I am relatively happy in my life, it just sucks that the world has let itself be run by a very small amount of very wealthy companies/individuals (aka the illumanti... ok that last bit was just a joke