June 4th, 2023 | Issue #71

1 Quote. 1 Reflection. 1 Question.

1 Quote.

“As we view the achievements of aggregated capital, we discover the existence of trusts, combinations, and monopolies, while the citizen is struggling far in the rear or is trampled to death beneath an iron heel. Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's masters."

 -From: Grover Cleveland 

-Source: State of the Union, December 3, 1888

1 Reflection.

Grover Cleveland served as the 22nd President of the United States between 1885-1889. This quote comes from his fourth 'Annual Message", now called the president's 'State of the Union". In this message, he talks about the challenges facing the new country. A major theme of the speech was America's fast capital expansion and its increasing international relationships. 

Through these endeavors, Cleveland recognized the power of corporations and how easy it was for them and governments to push average citizens behind for the sake of "progress". 

I could have quoted different parts of this speech, but this one stood out to me the most. Nowadays, if you research where your food, medicine, toys, electronics, etc. come from you will find it leads back to the same companies. Zoom in a bit and you will find many of these companies have connections back to government institutions.  

It is true that the many are ruled by the few, but is this inherently a bad thing? I don't think so, it seems to be a law of the universe. We listen to 1% of all music, we read 1% of all books, 1% of the world holds the most wealth, and even one star, the Sun, holds 99% of the mass in our solar system. 

I write about this topic this week as a reminder, a reminder to always take a step back before buying the "must need" supplement, stock, car, house, course, gadget, vacation, etc. This also applies to buying into causes, and ideas. This is important to point out because corporations and governments thrive when people are in chaos and are outraged. 

So, this week take stock of the physical items in your life as well as the mental ones because you only have so much precious time and personal bandwidth. Do this and you be more capable of guarding these assets against the institutions pushing you in all directions. 

1 Question.

Where do you find most of your dollars and thoughts going to?