The Concentration Of Power

Since the beginning of organized societies, power and leadership have operated in human hierarchies, which are concentrating power in an accelerating manner, according to the comprehensive analysis of Dr. Anders Corr in his book The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy & Hegemony. “This sweeping study belongs next to Niall Ferguson and Jared Diamond in our understanding of how the world works and how it can work better.” — James Kraska, Harvard Law School “A must-read for legislators, military strategists, leading academics, regulators, and anyone interested in the existential threat that the concentration of economic, political, and informational power in an illiberal country like China creates for the leading democracies of the world.” - Kyle Bass, Billionaire investor “…erudite and realistic appraisal of 21st century power politics.” — Alex Gray, former Chief of Staff, White House National Security Council From The Book: “China’s influence in US politics has coincided with the industrialization of China, at the expense of a deindustrializing US. Global corporations, to which US politicians answer, fled high wages and environmental regulations in the US for low wages and lax environmental standards in China. Now, the US is paying the price and might not recover sufficiently to defend itself against China’s growing military. The strategic ambitions of one nation can and have upset the United Nations and the balance between powers. Now the Western world must understand the imminent threats from the hegemonic ambitions of China.” Hierarchy is the “institutionalization of power,” according to Dr. Corr’s The Concentration of Power, an institutionalization that is concentrating and accelerating over historical time, from prehistory to the present. Corr develops twelve historical theories and applies them to the greatest conflicts of the past and present, including during the age of empires, the present competition between superpowers such as the United States and China, as well as conflicts between the nation-state and emerging supranational powers such as the European Union and United Nations. Corr’s theories apply to domestic politics as well, as illustrated by the evolution of conflicts between communism, fascism, and liberal democracy. Corr argues that the concentration of power acts as a ratchet. It concentrates when conditions are ripe, and force is applied. Due to mechanisms like subsidies, transfers, and corruption, however, power does not easily return to an unconcentrated state when conditions are not ripe. This dynamic dynamic of the ratchet drives international and domestic concentration of power, with no apparent end other than a global illiberal hegemon at some point in the future. In sum, The Concentration of Power is a short history of the world, from the beginning to what the evidence indicates should be its logical conclusion. From politics to unions, associations, corporations, and the military, Dr. Corr analyzes them and provides readers with a sense of what the world could face if we allow hierarchy to continue its historical development toward global and illiberal hegemony. Be it in China, the United States, or the European Union, all are vying for global influence and the utilization of the structure of the United Nations to promote either the principles of human rights and democracy, or in the case of Beijing, the exact opposite. This clash between democracy and autocracy on a global level could turn into a final war of world proportions. No greater stakes have ever existed in world history.

Nearly every day brings news of another merger or acquisition involving the companies that control our food supply. Just how concentrated has this system become? At almost every key stage of the food system, four firms alone control 40% or more of the market, a level above which these companies have the power to drive up prices for consumers and reduce their rate of innovation. Researchers have identified additional problems resulting from these trends, including negative impacts on the environment, human health, and communities. This book reveals the dominant corporations, from the supermarket to the seed industry, and the extent of their control over markets. It also analyzes the strategies these firms are using to reshape society in order to further increase their power, particularly in terms of their bearing upon the more vulnerable sections of society, such as recent immigrants, ethnic minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status. Yet this study also shows that these trends are not inevitable. Opposed by numerous efforts, from microbreweries to seed saving networks, it explores how such opposition has encouraged the most powerful firms to make small but positive changes.

Agencies and policies instituted to streamline Ottawa's planning process instead concentrate power in the hands of the Prime Minister, more powerful in Canadian politics than the U.S. President in America. Riveting, startling, and indispensable reading.

This book discusses the role of space, time and cyclical behavior in world politics. More specifically, the political-economic role of lead economies – the world’s most innovative economies for finite periods of time – in world politics. These represent unusual concentrations of new technologies, energy sources, and military capabilities of global reach that play disproportional roles in the conduct of international affairs and the provision of limited governance at the most macro level. They also possess close links to economic growth and intense conflict. The book describes the economic, military and political processes behind the systemic leadership of a state at the international level. It also highlights the economic preconditions of systemic leadership, such as economic monopoly of new technologies and energy, which underlie the system leader’s material advantage over others. Analyzing lead economies and the evolution of power over a number of centuries, the author demonstrates how disruptions wrought by the emergence of new technologies and energy sources are partly responsible for global conflicts. This book appeals to international relations scholars as well as anyone interested in the political economy of systemic leadership, growth, and conflict in world politics.

This carefully crafted ebook: "The Power of Concentration (Complete Edition)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) was an attorney, merchant, publisher, and author, as well as an occultist and an American pioneer of the New Thought movement. He is also known to have been the author of the pseudonymous works attributed to Theron Q. Dumont and Yogi Ramacharaka. Excerpt: "We all know that in order to accomplish a certain thing we must concentrate. It is of the utmost value to learn how to concentrate. To make a success of anything you must be able to concentrate your entire thought upon the idea you are working out. Do not become discouraged, if you are unable to hold your thought on the subject very long at first. There are very few that can. It seems a peculiar fact that it is easier to concentrate on something that is not good for us, than on something that is beneficial. This tendency is overcome when we learn to concentrate consciously. If you will just practice a few concentration exercises each day you will find you will soon develop this wonderful power."

Firmly rooting its argument in democratic and economic theory, the book argues that a more democratic distribution of communicative power within the public sphere and a structure that provides safeguards against abuse of media power provide two of three primary arguments for ownership dispersal. It also shows that dispersal is likely to result in more owners who will reasonably pursue socially valuable journalistic or creative objectives rather than a socially dysfunctional focus on the 'bottom line'. The middle chapters answer those agents, including the Federal Communication Commission, who favor 'deregulation' and who argue that existing or foreseeable ownership concentration is not a problem. The final chapter evaluates the constitutionality and desirability of various policy responses to concentration, including strict limits on media mergers.

This book analyzes Chile's political economy and its attempt to build a market society in a highly inegalitarian country.