I might go with propping up (aka: distributing money or supplying mercenaries) but there is probably an order of magnitude less ability for a corporation to pass money along. FYI, Shell is a US company. And do you really think Chiquita is involved in nefarious doings in the middle east? -XC
Royal dutch shell is a U.S. company? Cool. The only reason Chiquita does not have "nefarious doings" in the middle east is because they don't grow bananas there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiquita_Brands_International#P...
A)> Shell, meant to type "is NOT". Doh. B)> Bananas. Yep, exactly my point. In fact, if you stack ranked the shenanigans going on in the mid-east and elsewhere the "private company" caused stuff is probably in the lower decile. It's a noir fantasy of certain parts of society that ugly American corporations, or the World Bank (ok, might give them that) is behind it all. But.... -XC
I actually think the author does a good job of pointing out why companies aren't behind the uprisings. WTF do any of them want with these countries? If there were uprisings in Saudi or Iran, then I might listen to what the conspiracy theorists have to say. But Yemen? Syria? Wastelands both. Although on a side note, what if there were resources and some mega companies did help to overthrow the despots in order to gain access to untapped markets? So fucking what? Its totally different than overthrowing someone like Arbenz in Guatemala, a democratically elected leader who was trying to do right by his countrymen. These are autocrats who care about one thing: self preservation. They oppose liberalizing their economies, because that can only help the common man. We may look at the factories in China with dismay at the conditions, but people are breaking down doors to get jobs in them. More pay, more dignity, more rights are what everyone wants.
So Oil Companies fundementally different than fruit companies? gotcha.
Uh, yeah. Like a car company is different from google. Plus the revenue scale difference is startling. I think Dol is the biggest food company and it is definitely south of $10B and I think Shell is north of $400B. I suspect that oil is higher margin than fruit - even after all the governments take a huge rake off 'er. _XC
Not that it matters to the conversation but Nestlé and Kraft are the two largest food companies. I would have thought ConAgra was on that list but apparently it's not. Dole is the largest fruit company though. Again, not that this is pertinent to the conversation, I just know your a fan of Cliff Clavinesque information.