I used to think it was all a grand conspiracy; that businesses were all working in cahoots and that they exercised total control over the entire society.
And who knows? Perhaps that is, in fact, the case.
But over the past several months, having been studying advertising and marketing and business at University of Texas at Austin, looking at the many examples of companies that were once giants, and that are now just struggling to survive, I now have my doubts about grand conspiracy theories and companies that have total control.
Such theories are too general and not dynamic enough to account for all the changes that we've seen over the past fifty years, and besides which, I think they give too much credit to businesses and CEOs, who are probably not capable of that degree of cooperation for such a duration of time.
Now that being said, I do still think that there is some level of cooperation among major heads of corporations, but I now recognize that there are hundreds, if not thousands of wild cards that come up every single day.
The founders of google, for example, with their company motto, "Don't be evil," changing the world with their websearch programs, with google earth, as well as their pay-per-click google adsense system.
The founders of eBay, with their online auction program, that has changed the way millions of people do business.
The engineers and CEOs of Freeplay Radio, who are trying to bring information and news to Africa with their wind up radios that require no electricity.
Every day, there are people all over the world who are thinking for themselves, acting on those thoughts, trying to find new ways of doing things, and doing their best to help make this world a better place.
And while I cannot prove it at the current time, with any research-based statistical date, that is a theory I'm happy to support.