Defund The Megacorps

The best part of the chaos during this pandemic has been watching the reactions of celebrities and huge corporations. And when I say best I mean so pathetic that it’s terribly embarrassing. These have to be the most out of touch and delusional people to have ever drawn a breath. What is even worse is there are “consumers” who are so entranced with these global brands that they defend them. Defending a multinational global faceless organization that doesn’t care anything about you or your well being. Asinine.

They just want your money. That’s it. They’ll be a part of any movement, chant any slogan as long as it means they aren’t cancelled. If you don’t think huge banks and car manufacturers aren’t going to turn these riots and this pandemic into their next marketing campaign you have another thing coming. They float from cause to cause, to movement to movement and ride them like trends and forget about them just as quick as they thought about them. These aren’t people that deserve your support. Maybe they deserve someone else’s support, but not yours.  

While we inch towards a great depression and a virus that is killing people all around the world, Mega-Corporate America is only worried about how to profit.

You’ve been reduced to your wallet.

It’s not hard to imagine a group of wealthy white haired lizards seated in a boardroom trying to think of how they can sell you something while the world burns. “What can we do to make the people consume? When they aren’t consuming the economy isn’t growing. The people have to be consuming.” “What can we do to cater to our demo?” “Help us help you, today, with a new American Express Equality Card.” (Oh, you better believe it’s coming.) “We here at American Express feel to really fight inequality you should act now and open up our new equity line of credit.”

Megacorps have fickle boundaries, and there isn’t a lot of morality there. Their sole purpose is to make money. But you can’t blame them, it’s the name of the game they play. But they are too distant to have any interest in the locales they take up. Their shopping stores may physically be in your area, but it’s not where they are headquartered. They are out of touch with the communities they thrive off. The advertising these enterprises do is harmful in my opinion. Simply because of how relentless it is. It is relentless stimulation, everywhere. At least in in the States it’s this way. Everything everywhere is an ad for a product. This obsession with coffee as a product sticks out in my mind. T-shirts for moms saying they need coffee before they can do anything. I don’t know. I think we are getting a raw deal. It’s a one way relationship. They get all the pros and we get all the cons + maybe one pro. Mega-advertising just smells fishy and out of touch. The kinds of people who put out lame ads aren’t the kind of people I want to put on a pedestal. The ownership is distant and is likely a huge group of shareholders/board members, which doesn’t seem like a successful recipe.

This is the polar opposite in respect to small, communal businesses. Ownership of these businesses being people who take part of a community and understand the culture of their areas. This is not to say that every local business owner is a sweetheart but at least a local business owner has more of an incentive to be a sweetheart than some corporate shill on the other side of the globe. The level of connectivity one has to their immediate surroundings is what makes the difference. The same idea applies to policing. I think a worthwhile experiment would be to have police officers serve in the cities they live in. If you live in Springfield, you should serve in Springfield and Springfield only. I am not saying this is a cure-all, but what if we did the same for small businesses? Incentivized businesses to stay small, and to stay in their communities. If you live in Springfield, you should be incentivized – through taxes and other ways – to keep your business in Springfield.

There is a connectivity issue here. The scales need to be turned down dramatically in the business world. We can start by defunding megacorporations. Stop giving them your money. They don’t care about you or your circumstances. A personal rule I have is I don’t wear branded t-shirts. Unless it’s that of a local small business I love. Or if it is that of a local team I root for. Try not to be an advertisement. There are lots of ways to defund the megacorporations. Use your technology until it literally doesn’t run anymore. If you own a car, drive that care into the ground. Another rule I follow is I don’t upgrade my technology or car unless I absolutely need to.

Don’t fall victim to advertisements. I prefer self-taught “non-experts”. Who are experts by experience but maybe not by formal suit and tie education. Try to support those around you as much as you can.

Defund megacorporations by not giving them your money.