Bigger is Better

After watching Rollerball (the original) and Resident Evil I realised that in almost all movies Mega Corporations are displayed as bad and/or evil. However, I think that it is not as bad as everyone thinks as long as there is just enough competition to keep things moving and improvements happening.

In Rollerball, nations and governments were abolished and in their place there were five Mega Corporations that ruled the world. The Mega Corps had abolished famine and poverty elevating everyone in the world to at least a middle class standing. However, this comfort and luxury came at a price - the people had to forfeit their freedom and right to vote.

Now while this might be a scary thing to most people I don’t see how this is all that bad. Mega Corps are the things that keep the world turning and indirectly they rule anyway, but if they could abolish poverty and hunger - why not? What would really change?

However I do not want to argue the fact that Mega Corps should rule the world, but rather that they are not as bad and evil as people always seem to make them out to be.

Everyone is very willing to jump on the inquisition bandwagon and witch hunt the big boys without looking at what they have done. Let’s take everyone’s favourite, Microsoft - they are by far the biggest Operating System (OS) and Software development house in the world and the bane of any small development house.

But what have they done for us? Simple - they have made the Internet accessible to more people by supplying a free browser with their OS but people call this monopolising the Internet. Okay - so to not be one of those people out there that use Microsoft’s Browser, I can now log onto the net and download a score of other ones. But I ask HOW do I download it without a browser in the first place? Can I call Netscape and wait for them to deliver to my door the new free copy of their browser?

Then there is the fact that Microsoft refuses to make their code open-source. Why the hell should they? Firstly, they have paid their developers for that code and it is thus their intellectual capital. Secondly they are by far the best out there anyway. It’s not like Mercedes is going to give their latest plans to BMW free of charge. So why the fuss with a software house that does the same?

Another problem with going open source is that there is absolutely no control over what happens to it, and soon that which was good and standardised becomes millions of bastardised copies of the original, making the entire software world even more confusing than it already is. By keeping their code to themselves and releasing it to those people that they deem should have it (yes, they do this) they keep control.

Now - if all those people out there that are not IT people are still awake and with me, I will move on.

What of things like Medical Companies? Why not merge them into one and get a standard of drugs out there that is the same across the board. I am sick of walking into a pharmacy and asking for a drug that is supposed to do something and the one they give me doesn’t bloody work, while I know perfectly well that there are ones that do.

With one huge Mega Medical Company there would not be billions wasted by two companies researching the same thing. Instead the research can be channelled and directed in a common direction. By doing this the result is the basis for opening up millions of others of directed and orderly research opportunities, thus allowing man to advance far quicker than we currently are (at least in the Medical field), even though this advantage can actually be carried across to just about all types of companies.

Then a Financial Institution, one huge conglomerate of people that look after money and everything to do with it. Think on this one a bit, as it is actually by far one of the biggest ones with the most far reaching influences. Standardisation of economy would be one of the first things to come out of this. No more unseen fluctuations, no stock market crashes.

With all the people in the world working on a financial solution for basically the entire world how long do you think it would be before the world’s finances become greatly simplified? There would be far fewer ‘variables’ in the equation of financial projections and the likes.

Even the Stock Trading Companies can jump on this bandwagon, all of them working together to regulate the entire worlds’ needs and demands, but with proper and organised projections to work on - things that do not exist in the current system.

Now I hear a lot of people crying: “But there will be no competition and things will spiral out of control.” In a sense this could be true, but for the most part the Corporations themselves will regulate the prices. They all depend upon each other in the end and by doing one company in the circle continues around until in effect you do yourself in, and there isn’t a company in the world that would want to do that.

People can also scream that the quality might drop if there is no competition, but yet again all the companies would be each others’ watch dogs. If the quality drops then it impacts the others and those will impact back on the previous one in some way or another.

In fact, I think that there is a pretty fair chance that it would become better, and so would the prices. Just think about it - there would be no reason to make an exceptionally good product to sell for an exceptional price or an absolutely terrible product for next to nothing. Instead for the most part the things will be a good product for a good price.

Of course if they are really bright they could still make the other two lines, but it will probably be widely known that these products are better or worse. What’s more - piracy will very rapidly become a thing of the past. No more Ra Baines instead of Ray Bans; no more NiKes instead of Nikes.

I say - for a better and far simpler world - bring on the Mega Corporations. They will simplify the world we live in no end and quite easily cut out a lot of the serious problems that we currently have.