by Nomad
Let's take a glance back over a hundred years ago to an era suspiciously like our own.
I'd like you to meet Mr. Flower, a now forgotten progressive journalist with a word of warning about the growth of corporations.
I'd like you to meet Mr. Flower, a now forgotten progressive journalist with a word of warning about the growth of corporations.
History is full of surprises and hidden secrets. One such surprise is how epochs and eras often repeat themselves at regular intervals- never quite the same, but the same echoes vibrate through our own time.
Take the Progressive Era which started in the late 1800s and lasted to about the 1920s. Ever wonder why this important time of American history gets so little attention?
To answer that, we can peer into Arena Magazine, Volume 19, dated 1898. In it, we discover an article written by the magazine's editor, B.O. Flower which is entitled "The Corporation Against The People." The article warns its readers about an encroaching menace- the monopolies of corporations:
Over a hundred years have passed and the subject- and the Flower's viewpoint - is just as important as it was then.Monopoly in money, monopoly in transportation, monopoly in all public utilities... and monopoly in commodities essential for man's life, comfort or well-being are the offspring of corporate control, ... in which great profits of the few are acquired at the expense of the many.Against this evil.. all reformers, all friends of liberty, freedom and justice should unite.The forces of freedom and the forces of oppression are being rapidly marshalled, the lines of battle are being drawn. The tendencies of the opposing theories are no longer vague or doubtful. If corporations are to continue, a popular government cannot live, any more than liberty can exist under the rule of absolutism.