The health of our economy is built on competition. In a capitalist country, the main drive for companies to improve is the knowledge that they need to compete with and outperform their competition or let their profit margins suffer. Though many sacrifice income for customer satisfaction, the largest of companies don’t need to care.  

With great money comes great power and the freedom to expand. When that means more money, greedy companies are going to ensnare as much as they can. We can’t stand by and let the world’s largest businesses reign over our lives as they consolidate our economy into the densest leviathan you’ll ever dread. 

There are two main methods by which corporate consolidation occurs. The first and more widely acknowledged method is horizontal integration. In this, one company buys out competitors within their field and brings more and more of the industry’s customer base to them. 

A recent example of this would be Disney’s merging with Marvel, Star Wars and 21st Century Fox, companies that produced films and products that competed with Disney’s own. Now that all of these companies’ licenses are owned by Disney, they have control over how they are used for their own gains. The competition that once existed between these companies is no longer there, giving Disney greater control how low the bar can go. 

The second main method is vertical integration. Rather than creating a monopoly over an industry, a company instead controls much of the process of creating their products, from the collection of the raw materials to putting everything together and getting their products in your hands. 

Netflix is the perfect example of this business strategy. Starting as a business that simply lets you rent movies through their services, Netflix now produces much of their own Netflix Original content. Although this may seem less bad for the economy on paper, it reduces the main means for smaller producers to get their products into the hands of the people and focuses customers towards the already largest companies. 

We already know what we need to do to fight the doomed future that corporate consolidation presents; spread awareness of its dangers, support local businesses and petition our lawmakers to resist the influence of these corporations and establish tighter laws on their growth. 

If we turn our backs on the behemoths of our global economy and focus our business on our local economy, we kill any benefit these corporations would be receiving from their unethical practices. 

Laws in the vein of our nation’s antitrust laws would be able to break up the stronghold corporations have now and prevent them from regaining their glory. 

So go out there and use the influence you have as a citizen and consumer to make positive change. We are the future.