A paragraph from Chris Hedges' piece on Truthdig today that adroitly summarizes where we are.....

[appalachiablue]

61. They'll have to fight reach other to buy up more and more, continued growth as it's called.

The larger the company, the larger the stock shares and the CEOs and execs. can demand more in salaries. Endless. Perhaps it will eventually be like 3-4 major empires fighting over land, the corps will fight over bigger pie and profits. Or like aristocratic families in the old days with kings, princes, uncles and advisors plotting and fighting each other for more power.

In my lifetime I already saw monopolistic growth once banned by TR (T. Roosevelt) return with Reagan who ended enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, started M & A's, mergers and acquisitions.

Chains and big box stores eating up or consolidating independent local and regional stores, restaurants, pharmacies, hotels, banks, insurance cos., farms. Also theaters, bookstores, newspapers, TV/Radio stations.

Smaller businesses once allowed large nos. of middle class families to thrive. Long gone mostly. Look at any US town with the standard Panera, Holiday Inn, Starbucks, AMC Theater in NYC or Birmingham AL.

So many businesses are global- Yum Foods Inc.=Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC in China. Pepsi contract only, no Coke. All chain money goes to Wall Street or Asia maybe, not Main Street. Corporate World.

Years ago owners, employees and communities could prosper for generations from these businesses. I knew people with family owned shoe stores in Boston, furniture businesses in NC, newspapers in Michigan, insurance cos. in Ohio. Very little left now.