I have decided that I hate multinationals. They are too big, too pervasive and we are in
thrall to them and that as far as possible I am going to rid my life of
them. Some of them try to be ethical but I don't think capitalism or perpetual growth is a good idea. I want to see if I can rid my life of Multinationals.
I know I won't be able to
rid myself of pharmaceutical companies as I have a chronic health condition
that requires daily medication.
I am
excited, though, to see how far I can get!
The first thing I have to do is define Multinational. The free dictionary definition is: - “Having operations, subsidiaries,
or investments in more than two countries:
a multinational corporation.”1 Chamber’s Dictionary
says “A large business company which operates in several countries.” 2
By that definition companies such as Marks
and Spencer, with 480 international stores3 is a multinational. Bang goes my favourite shop!
I have just looked up BHS4; it is
a predominantly British company although it has franchises in other
countries. I am going to let that slide
for the moment as I need to have one decent High Street Store to get clothes
in!
I have already given up Amazon and only use
Google on my phone as I don’t know how to change the internet browser as I am
not a techie! I might see if my niece can do it though. I have just realised this blog is run
by Google, oops. I use Mozilla Firefox5
on my main computer and laptop. It
is slightly better than some because it reinvests all its profits in its own
projects and doesn’t have shareholders.
My iPad is a law unto itself as I use it but don’t understand it and
although Apple is a multinational I am not giving my iPad up till it breaks! I
will leave all the rest of the computer companies till later as they are going
to be difficult to deal with as the internet is by its very nature
international and the companies probably multinationals although I don’t know
for certain yet.
Wish me luck, this might be very difficult!
- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/multinational
- Chamber’s 20th Century Dictionary
- http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/mands-today/reaching-our-customers
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Home_Stores
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation A MozillaZine article explained: The Mozilla Foundation will ultimately control the activities of the Mozilla Corporation and will retain its 100 percent ownership of the new subsidiary. Any profits made by the Mozilla Corporation will be invested back into the Mozilla project. There will be no shareholders, no stock options will be issued and no dividends will be paid. The Mozilla Corporation will not be floating on the stock market and it will be impossible for any company to take over or buy a stake in the subsidiary. The Mozilla Foundation will continue to own the Mozilla trademarks and other intellectual property and will license them to the Mozilla Corporation. The Foundation will also continue to govern the source code repository and control who is allowed to check in.
Great start Kath. We all need to find ways to stand up to the evil that is done in the name of profit. Capitalism and multinationals are not forces of nature, not the only way for us to organise ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI wish you luck. Its a very worthwhile journey to take and to tell us about. More power to your elbow.
ReplyDelete