Response to Satchel's "A Tale of Today"

A well- composed article with in depth perspective, Satchel Walton's , "A Tale of Today," on his blog, SGT. Satchel's Lonely Hearts Club, is a must read for all those interested in history analyzation.  He speaks of  monopolies and conglomerations, and how history repeats itself. 

I must agree with him on the subject that history has and will continue to repeat itself. That it is a bit terrifying for these companies to use vertical monopoly in such a way that it leads to a form of ultimate control. As he articulates quite clearly, "That made me think, wasn't this vertical integration a crucial step that the Gilded Age's, 'Captains of Industry' took towards becoming some of the most powerful men in American history? Having this complete control of supply lines through vertical integration was and is a robber barron's dream." Our world is constantly being turned upside down by whoever gains control of certain media organizations and the lack of restrictions for these organizations. 

I must say, the comparison Satchel made between Jeff Bezos and Rockefeller struck a little too close to home. His explanation of how past figures compare to one's today is completely understandable and prods you to think a bit and pay close attention to those similarities shown. The U.S does have a few conspiracy theories about how major corporations control the government. Whether you want to believe those or not is up to you.  Satchel's comparisons entail that, " If Jeff Bezos is the Rockefeller from our time, then who will be our Ida Tarbell? If the Koch brothers are our Carnegie, then who will be our Theodore Roosevelt? Who is our Upton Sinclair and where is our Sherman Antitrust act?" 

If we're not careful, things could get ugly real fast in Washington. 

One thing he didn't include but is crucial to at least acknowledge is the Watchdog element. As journalists we have the inate responsibility to monitor these people in power and keep them on their toes. Yet we have seen little to none of this from media corporations- because most are owned by the the ones they're supposed to be watching. An appropriate closing to this would be the closing sentence from Satchel's story. "We must have people act before Wall Street is more powerful than Capitol Hill."