10 giant corporations that have taken over much of American life

Nestle donates just enough formula to new mothers in poor countries for their milk to dry up, so they become dependent on the formula to feed their babies. But they may be too poor to afford enough formula, so they add too much water, leading to malnutrition of their babies. They often don't have access to clean water, so the babies get sick, sometimes die, from infection. Nestle kept saying they were stopping this practice, and kept returning to it. I have been boycotting them for years.

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/15/10_giant_corporations_that_have_taken_over_much_of_american_life_partner/

Friday, Nov 15, 2013
Thom Hartmann, Alternet

There isn’t much diversity in America’s economic web of life.

An image that was first posted on Reddit last year, and was recently grabbed by the folks over at PolicyMic, shows just how out-of-control corporate America has become in the years since Ronald Reagan stopped enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Right now, there are 10 giant corporations that control, either directly or indirectly, virtually everything we buy.

These corporations are Kraft, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Proctor and Gamble, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson.

These 10 corporations in turn own, market, or distribute what people think of as the products of hundreds of other companies.

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Many American consumers know Nestlé for its Nescafé espresso, Nestlé ice cream or Nesquick chocolate milk.

But this coffee and chocolate milk manufacturer also owns or helps market Purina dog and cat food, Gerber baby food, Ralph Lauren cologne, and Garnier hair care products.

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Over at TheyRule.net, you can track and discover the connections between America’s largest corporations.

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The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed back in 1890.

In its prime, the law prevented businesses from overwhelming competition in the marketplace, and even required the federal government to investigate any company that tried to monopolize an industry.

The Sherman Act worked well for nearly 100 years.

But then everything changed.

When Ronald Reagan became president, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act became a thing of the past.

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As a result, all across America, local businesses were run out of business, as giant corporations took over Main Street and dominated industry after industry.

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