
Six agricultural giants on the verge of merging into three companies (2016) - walterbell
https://qz.com/786382/monsanto-bayer-dupont-dow-chemical-and-syngenta-defend-their-coming-oligopoly-mon-dd-dow-syt/?utm_content=bufferd7c37&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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fekunde
It is disheartening to see how a company like Dow can not just survive but
flourish after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

[https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-
worlds-...](https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-
industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/)

~~~
sschueller
Well they keep claiming that they didn't do it but the company they acquired
did so it's not their responsibility...

Same shit will happen once Bayer buys Monsanto and the Monsanto turds come to
the surface. Not that Bayer hasn't done horrible things itself in the past.
[1]

[1]
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/23/aids.suzannego...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/23/aids.suzannegoldenberg)

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newswriter99
This is from September 2016. Most of these mergers have already occurred.
DowDuPont is already diversifying some of its assets to FMC as part of the
merger deal, just as an example.

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fwsgonzo
Monopoly continues to rear its ugly head.. Reminds me of the banking chart:
[https://www.visualnews.com/2016/01/25/37-banks-
became-4-bank...](https://www.visualnews.com/2016/01/25/37-banks-
became-4-banks-just-2-decades/)

No idea how to quote, but from the original story: The nation’s 10 largest
financial institutions hold 54 percent of our total financial assets; in 1990,
they held 20 percent. In the meantime, the number of banks has dropped from
more than 12,500 to about 8,000.

~~~
nether
Number One: In 1945, corporations paid 50% of federal taxes; now they pay
about 5%.

Number Two: In 1900, 90% of Americans were self employed; now it's about 2%...
It's called consolidation; strengthen governments and corporations, weaken
individuals. With taxes, this can be done imperceptibly over time.

~~~
extra88
> In 1900, 90% of Americans were self employed; now it's about 2%

Citation, please? That 1900 percentage seems way off. Just looking at child
labor, which was 6% of the workforce in 1900 [0], they weren't all self-
employed shoeshines or paperboys. Think about agriculture, which was already
less than 50% of employment by 1900 but much bigger than today, do you think
90% of those people were working their own farms rather than farm hands, ranch
hands working for someone else? The US Census didn't collect this kind of data
until decades later so it's hard to find good numbers. This blog post [1]
references a much older column that said 50% were self-employed in 1900.

Regarding the 2% today, in 2015 Rick Santorum said 10% of American's own their
own business which PolitiFact rated as Mostly True [2].

[0] [https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/american-labor-in-
the-20th-...](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/american-labor-in-the-20th-
century.pdf)

[1] [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-mcnay/are-you-ready-to-
ju...](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-mcnay/are-you-ready-to-jump-
int_b_922926.html)

[2] [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-
meter/statements/2015/apr/...](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-
meter/statements/2015/apr/13/rick-santorum/90-american-workers-dont-own-their-
own-business-ri/)

~~~
Honeybunch
Worth noting that this is a quote from the game Deus Ex and the 2% is relevant
to the game's fictional universe set in 2052. It's meant to be more of a
vision of a dark future at the given trend not necessarily a number to be used
in the year 2000 when the game released.

~~~
extra88
Thanks, I didn't get from your previous comment that you were explaining that
'nether' was simply quoting a video game set in the future.

As for the historical figures, I guess Deus Ex is a failure for truth and
accuracy in game journalism, that is, journalism performed by games ;)

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lithos
This story seems pretty light on everything. There is no reason why it needs
to be considering how many parties there are that would love to get a sound
bite in.

Edit: typo

