Many cynics take a look at the world today and groan; the world, they assert, is spiraling into a maelstrom of violence, hatred, and chaos. Yet the vision of those same critics is limited by their pessimism; an open mind reveals a panorama of human progress, a sign that the world is changing for the better.
The early 20th century was, in America, a dark period of corruption, animalistic greed, and rampant prejudice. Our nation was ruled by huge corporations that had strangle holds on our national economy. Ruthlessly exploiting the principle of Social Darwinism, the powerful magnates and tycoons at the head of these behemoths felt no qualms of using whatever means possible to reach monopoly. They bought out rival companies, expanding their market share, and assimilated the necessary components of their industry. Andrew Carnegie, for example, absorbed competitors, then bought companies that enabled him to control the processing of his steel from mine to market. Using this method, businesses could, through the powers of monopoly, set artificially high prices for products, robbing the people of millions of dollars that, quite frankly, the corporations could spare.
The heinous infractions of that era can hardly be compared to the main grievances of today. The best accusations the public can throw at companies in the 21st century are the crimes of accounting fraud, insider trading, and others. A recent scandal, Enron, cost stockholders millions and thousands of workers their jobs. But money is of little consequence when opposed to the matter of opportunity. The corporations of the early 20the century robbed many Americans of their dreams; the chronic paying of exorbitant for goods of mediocre quality sapped the ability of the common worker to improve his or her lot, dooming entire generations of Americans to social, financial, and educational limbo.
In the one hundred years since then, monopoly laws and their brethren have secured the right to “life, liberty, and property” of people not only in America, but all over the globe. Though the world may not be a paradise, yet, we humans are slowly plodding toward the day when such a utopia may be achieved.
The early 20th century was, in Americ