A Corporate World
In the science fiction flick Incorporated, a post-apocalyptic future world is no longer run by nation-states but by corporation-states, each acting in the best interests of the company. Such a future doesn't seem that far or farfetched now, especially if one considers just how big the world's most powerful corporations are.
One LinkedIn post recently got our attention. It in, a young tech entrepreneur made an interesting calculation: just how wealthy is Apple? Recent reports show that the Cupertino-based tech giant has an unbelievably massive cash stash of $256.8 billion — and a market value hovering around $800 billion.
That's obviously a great deal of dough, and to show just how much, the LinkedIn post claimed that, with its cash, Apple could buy Tesla (approximately $50.1 billion), Netflix ($67.4 billion), Uber ($68 billion), Airbnb ($68 billion), Twitter ($13.38 billion), and a budding tech firm called Eden App (probably valued around $10.92 billion), and still have about $16 billion cash left.
Ruling the World
Now, while Apple won't be buying Tesla — although, while Elon Musk would never sell, it should — or any of these companies anytime soon, what this illustrates is just how much (purchasing) power one corporation could wield. Today, where globalization has shaped and continues to shape an interconnected world, it's corporations like Apple that now "rule" the world — and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that...right?
It's pretty ironic for Apple, though, as it has now become the "Big Brother" it worked so hard to fight against in its early innovative years.
The great irony of globalization, it would seem, is money. While information and access, and even space, are democratized, the financial resources of the world still seem to be focused on just a few. This financial setup is poised for disruption, as digital and cryptocurrencies become more and more popular.
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