Controlling Corporate Influence In Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation

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Controlling Corporate Influence In the modern era of progress, many innovative methods of organization have been introduced to mankind. A handful of such structures, like the United States government, come with a system of checks and systems, while the rest are left unbalanced and open to exploitation. But nature demands every system to reach an equilibrium point and become stable. In the phenomenal national bestseller, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser states that “a person can now go from cradle to grave without spending a nickel at an independently owned business”(Schlosser, 5).He argues that present-day corporations are allowed to expand at the expense of small, independently owned businesses. When a fast food giant, such as McDonald’s,…show more content…
A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest group, such as powerful corporations like McDonald’s. The bigger companies hire more lobbyists to increase their influence on public servants to insure their interests at the state, and specially the federal level. In a dispute between two giant meatpacking firms, “President Reagan’s Justice Department submitted a brief” and “argued on behalf of Excel, claiming it had every right to buy a rival company” while accepting the “disappearance of hundreds of small meatpacking firms” and opposing the use of “antitrust laws to stop giant packers” (Schlosser, 156). In the statement, Schlosser shows how big corporations can influence elected officials to disregard smaller businesses and the public’s interest. If the officials who are to keep the corporations in check are run by the giant companies themselves, the concept of checks and balances can almost be discarded. If the public is informed of what is going on and reacts to the bribing events, then the big companies, who hire the lobbyists, can be forced to alter their mindset by their customers, and the special interest lobbyists can become benefactors for the general…show more content…
The giants do so to satisfy their excessive greed and attain more control over all aspects of life within their reach. In order to keep such corporate greed in check and to help the government be more productive, a well informed and altruistic public has to use its authority as the customer to boycott the products of such voracious companies. And with the support of a powerful media, the message can not only be sent to the corporate executives, but also to gather more supporters. To appease their customers, when executive greed becomes a public ally, lobbyists who assist the giant corporations, will conform and pursue the welfare of

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