(Photo
by
Stuart
C.
Wilson/Getty
Images)
In
the
“Star
Wars”
movies,
the
Trade
Federation
was
a
powerful
conglomerate
that
controlled
interstellar
commerce.
It
had
its
own
private
military
and
even
had
a
seat
in
the
Galactic
Senate.
It
used
its
power
and
influence
to
control
prices,
force
one-sided
trade
deals
with
planets,
and
even
control
local
politics.
The
most
well-known
example
of
the
Federation’s
power
was
when
it
used
its
warships
to
blockade
the
planet
Naboo
in
response
to
a
Senate
law
that
would
impose
taxes
on
the
Free
Trade
Zones.
This
resulted
in
the
Galactic
Republic
dispatching
Qui-Gon
Jinn
and
Obi-Wan
Kenobi
to
negotiate
with
the
Trade
Federation
viceroy
in
the
beginning
of
“The
Phantom
Menace.”
While
the
Trade
Federation’s
machinations
are
complex,
with
others
calling
the
shots
behind-the-scenes,
it
still
takes
gumption
for
a
private
company
to
challenge
the
government,
especially
using
force.
Would
any
large
company
in
this
galaxy
have
the
power
and
influence
to
issue
a
similar
challenge
to
government
power?
Today,
the
Trade
Federation
would
be
considered
a
megacorporation.
As
the
name
suggests,
it
is
a
very
large
and
powerful
corporation
or
business
entity.
But
it
also
has
significant
political
power.
It
may
be
able
to
ignore
or
break
laws
mainly
because
governments
do
not
have
the
power
to
enforce
their
laws
against
it.
They
set
up
their
own
rules
and
have
their
own
private
army
powerful
enough
to
topple
governments.
Examples
of
megacorporations
are
mostly
in
fiction
and
portrayed
as
evil.
They
include
Omni
Consumer
Products
(OCP)
from
the
“Robocop“
movies,
the
Shinra
Corporation
from
the
“Final
Fantasy
7”
video
game,
and
the
Mishima
Zaibatsu
from
the
“Tekken”
series.
A
more
benevolent
example
could
be
Marvel
Comics’
Stark
Industries,
headed
by
Tony
Stark
(aka
Iron
Man).
But
there
are
two
real
life
examples
of
a
megacorporation
that
existed
during
the
17th
century.
The
first
is
the
Dutch
East
India
Co.
(also
known
as
the
Vereenigde
Oostindische
Compagnie
or
VOC)
which
began
in
1602
and
lasted
until
its
dissolution
in
1799.
The
Dutch
government
granted
VOC
a
monopoly
on
the
spice
trade
in
Africa
and
Asia
for
21
years.
It
later
had
the
right
to
make
treaties
and
conduct
military
operations.
The
VOC
had
its
own
military
(10,000
soldiers
and
40
warships)
at
its
peak.
The
other
example
is
the
British
East
India
Co.
which
was
founded
in
1600
by
a
group
of
prominent
merchants
and
explorers
and
dissolved
in
1874.
It
was
given
a
trade
monopoly
by
Queen
Elizabeth
I.
As
the
company
grew,
it
not
only
had
control
of
the
spice
trade
in
parts
of
Africa
and
Asia,
it
also
engaged
in
slave
trading.
It
had
its
own
armed
forces
of
260,000
soldiers
—
twice
the
size
of
the
British
army
at
the
time.
This
army
was
used
to
conquer
and
control
India.
At
its
peak,
the
value
of
the
British
East
India
Co.
was
believed
to
be
$7.8
trillion
in
today’s
dollars.
The
idea
of
the
Trade
Federation
was
inspired
by
both
the
VOC
and
the
British
East
India
Co.
Today,
the
world
has
changed
to
the
point
where
megacorporations
like
the
Trade
Federation
are
not
likely
to
exist.
First,
most
developed
countries
disfavor
monopolies
and
have
antitrust
or
competition
laws
that
prevent
large
companies
from
unreasonably
restraining
trade
or
prevent
competitors
from
entering
the
market.
Also,
colonialism
is
frowned
upon
today
although
a
few
countries
are
either
thinking
about
it
or
are
simply
going
for
it,
regardless
of
what
other
countries
threaten
to
do
in
response.
Lastly,
large
public
companies
today
are
unlikely
to
spend
large
amounts
of
money
on
private
armies
or
“security
expenses.”
While
they
may
spend
significant
amounts
of
money
to
protect
their
famous
CEOs,
shareholders
and
investors
will
not
be
happy
with
the
company
spending
billions
to
purchase
mercenaries,
tanks,
and
bombs.
And
even
if
they
were
to
have
large
private
armies,
governments
will
easily
make
short
work
of
them,
either
with
their
own
military
forces
or
with
the
assistance
of
their
more
powerful
allies.
But
that
doesn’t
mean
large
companies
are
powerless.
While
they
may
not
have
military
might,
they
may
be
able
to
cripple
local
economies
or
manage
the
flow
of
information
which
may
upset
residents
and
voters.
For
example,
a
few
months
ago,
when
Minneapolis
considered
passing
a
law
requiring
a
minimum
wage
for
rideshare
drivers,
both
Uber
and
Lyft
threatened
to
stop
services
in
the
city.
This
may
look
like
Uber
and
Lyft
throwing
out
the
baby
with
the
bathwater.
But
they
are
anticipating
that
the
action
will
disrupt
the
city’s
transportation
and
upset
both
local
residents
and
passengers.
They
have
done
this
in
the
past.
When
the
city
of
Austin
passed
an
ordinance
in
2016
requiring
drivers
to
be
fingerprinted
in
order
to
protect
passengers,
Uber
and
Lyft
suspended
service
in
the
city
for
a
year.
The
suspension
was
lifted
when
the
rule
was
overturned.
Newly
formed
alternative
ridesharing
apps
in
response
were
poorly
received
due
to
frequent
crashing.
Google
and
Meta
are
threatening
to
take
action
against
governments
that
force
them
to
pay
news
sites
for
their
content.
Google
has
removed
links
to
California
news
websites
in
reaction
to
a
proposed
law
that
would
require
it
to
pay
a
royalty
to
news
publishers.
This
move
has
been
criticized
for
supporting
censorship
while
suppressing
journalism
and
democracy.
Similarly,
Facebook
has
blocked
links
to
news
sites
in
Canada
in
response
to
the
Online
News
Act,
which
requires
companies
like
Meta
and
Google
to
pay
news
sites
for
linking
content.
This
move
has
been
criticized
for
preventing
the
spread
of
crucial
information,
particularly
during
disasters
and
for
negatively
affecting
local
news
sites.
Today,
the
chances
of
a
conglomerate
like
the
Trade
Federation
being
formed
in
this
galaxy
is
as
likely
as
the
Death
Star.
But
companies
seeking
world
domination
have
other
means
to
challenge
the
government.
Steven
Chung
is
a
tax
attorney
in
Los
Angeles,
California.
He
helps
people
with
basic
tax
planning
and
resolve
tax
disputes.
He
is
also
sympathetic
to
people
with
large
student
loans.
He
can
be
reached
via
email
at
stevenchungatl@gmail.com.
Or
you
can
connect
with
him
on
Twitter
(@stevenchung)
and
connect
with
him
on LinkedIn.