Opening Insights: The Great Takeover
Once one has accumulated enough monetary wealth the continued accumulation of wealth loses its excitement and purpose. The drive to make more money becomes replaced with the hunger for power, which is the only true commodity in this world. There are many who mistakenly believe that money is power. In large part, this blog is for them.
One person sits at the helm of an organization purpose-built to deliver a power greater than that of most governments. The odd thing about possessing power is, you can never have more than what others are willing to give you, but those who seek it can never seem to get enough.
Amazon is being positioned to become the single source for the basic needs and wants of Americans. It has been systematically zeroing-in on the products and services that individuals, businesses and our government depend on. Additionally, the CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the owner of the Washington Post. An MSN article sheds some light on Amazon, its direction and the industry impact we are experiencing already.
Informational Insights: Anti-Antitrust?
Some are beginning to ask the question, “How far will we allow Amazon to go before antitrust measures are brought to bear against the rapidly diversifying, innovating and growing company?” The Trump administration has taken notice of what is soon to become a runaway event (one we lose control of). Before, when Amazon was acquiring Whole Foods, there was the opportunity to initiate antitrust proceedings, but we didn’t do it. What precedents have been set as a result, and just how powerful are the Washington lobbying firms anyway?
Driven by the need to tackle regulatory and legislative hurdles to its ever-expanding business lines, Amazon has increased its lobbying spending more than 400 percent in the last five years, shelling out nearly $13 million in 2017, according to the disclosures. It lobbied more government agencies than any other tech company, the records show, making its presence felt from Congress and the White House to NASA as it outspent all of its peers except for Google.
While for years, Amazon focused on a narrow set of issues such as state sales taxes and copyrights, the online retail giant now deploys lobbyists broadly across Washington as it seeks to begin drone delivery of goods, sell cloud services to the Defense Department and make acquisitions.
Bezos appears to be steering his interests forward in an obvious, but frightening, direction. Domination. Soon he will own the supply (Amazon), control the demand (media) and set his price. A sample game-plan would appear as such:
- quietly take over markets and gain the trust/dependency of consumers
- eliminate all competition – market superiority
- craft messages through media to influence the thinking, perceptions, feelings, beliefs and behavior (culture) of the consumer
- gain control of America – once you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow
- enforce personal agenda…
The question is not, Do we need to do something? Rather, we should be asking, What will we do?
How can we form community partnerships to combat the takeover of our local businesses by giant eCommerce, technology, web service, grocery, entertainment/media firms like Amazon?
AwareComm offers several flavors of Joint Venture Co-Lab Partnerships to strengthen the bond between SMBs and their local marketplaces. Businesses, organization and schools may choose to apply for a position with AwareComm as one of the following:
- Research Partner
- Strategic Partner
- Service Provider
AwareComm is poised to give the power of the market back to the people by reminding them that they never lost it; they just forgot they possessed it. All it takes is a little de-programing and re-education. Once individuals have repositioned themselves with the strength of principle based, community driven cultural change it becomes clear who really has the power.
Source Link:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/amazon-cuts-ties-with-top-lobbying-firms-in-washington/ar-AAvhgiz?ocid=spartandhp
Possibilities for Consideration: Do We Care?
Do we care enough to act? Are we willing to sacrifice personal convenience to say “no” to an eCommerce giant with its sights set on not only dominating industries, but dominating Americans?
- What would it be like to exercise your power as a consumer to say, No, thank you and decide how your community investment will be spent?
- What if you could learn to place greater value on relationships vs convenience and thrive in a community of like-minded individuals?
- What if we could reintroduce good, old-fashioned market competition, increase product/service quality and rebuild trusted brands?
- What would it be like to once again have a thriving, local, small business marketplace that reinvests in your community, creating jobs and strengthening culture?
Add Your Insights
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
MARGARET MEAD
