So few control so many

"Free trade" as we have defined and discussed together in class is a misnomer. If trade were truly free then we would not be having this discussion. The power vested in corporations by the WTO and by international trade agreements, including those reducing or eliminating import tariffs, has created a global economy in which the means of production and distribution of goods are controlled by increasingly fewer, more powerful entities. It is impossible to function in our society without contributing to this wave, because we are so integrated that we fundamentally rely on these few controlling groups to survive. Beyond commodities that may seem to us like essentials (all manner of electronics, modes of transportation, even clothing), the very food and drink we use to fuel our bodies are nearly all produced and distributed by a multinational corporation. It is not hard to see how this affects politics and quality of life, since the one who controls the stuff also controls the people who want/need the stuff (or have been programmed to think they need the stuff.) Unfortunately the situation looks pretty terminally fucked.

So what can we do? First, be a practical hand. Don't agonize over what brand of shoes or cereal or gasoline you buy, because unless you decide to go native and move to the mountains, you (and me) are at the very least monetarily contributing to the conglomeration of natural resources and helping the controlling factions get stronger. Feeling guilty is not productive, and neither is feeling powerless. Knowledge is power, so learn hella shitski!!! Hunter Thompson said politics is the art of controlling your environment. Politics as we understand it in our cultural idiom can be a broad, abstract thing to apprehend, so bring it down to its roots on an interpersonal level in order to better understand how things got the way they are and how we do our part to change it. Observe and be aware with all your senses. Give up the funk to receive the funk. And have fun.