Whatsit Wednesday - Mega Corporations

These days we all understand that we have to deal with mega corporations. Many of us use social media. We keep connected with family and friends through all types of channels. I can still remember MySpace and the Dutch version of social media in the beginning, Hyves. These days one has to be connected to several different social media channels in order to be in contact with the various groups. Young people won’t be found dead on some, and older people (Boomers) are not as savvy on others. 

Most of us use the internet to an immense degree. I remember thrilling in the chance to read an encyclopedia. I don’t know how many people still know what an encyclopedia is. But almost everyone knows what Wikipedia is. And if we have a question, the first thing we do is “Google it”. While these are all very recent innovations, the idea of mega corporations is not a modern thing (depending on how far back you want to go to define “modern”). 

The VOC was the “Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie” or the United East India Company, more often known in English as the Dutch East India Company. This company, established in 1602, became much more than a company. It was the first company in which you could be a shareholder, you could buy stock in the company (which could be bought and sold in what would become the Amsterdam Stock Exchange - but that is a different story). 

This company became a megalith with powers to wage war, sign treaties, establish colonies and even strike its own coins. It influenced all of Asia at the time and established markets and cultures that still resonate throughout the world today. Its atrocities resound throughout history as well and should sound a warning. But many are not willing to listen to history, often thinking it only a telling of old tales instead of a warning for future behavior. 

In more modern times we see a few other mega corporations under the Dutch flag. Unilever makes food under many different brands and is partially Dutch. ASML is a Dutch company that has been in the news most recently because of international tensions. They make machines that make chips - computer chips. Much of what they need for their machines is made in Taiwan. If Taiwan were to be taken over by China, the supply of computer chips (which are now used in almost everything) would cease to be as free as it is now. 

So while we are enjoying eating a bag of chips, googling something on our computer or phone or sharing some little tidbit on our social media, we might want to remember what such a corporation can do across the globe. 

Jesus, social media, the bank and the cloud

What do we choose?
Can we get closer together and keep following this path?

I am trying to deal with moving all of my information from an old computer to a newer one. This happens to me about every 6 years or so when I update my computer. But for a while there has been this thing called 'the cloud'. Try explaining that some time to a person who doesn't use computers. That will truly test your language skills. But the cloud has been a great help in moving my files from one computer to the next (and connecting the various computers in our house). And I have had my pictures (like the one here) in the cloud for quite some years now.

As a matter of fact, years ago, one paid for a little slice of cloud. Now there are so many competitors that a big chunk of cloud is free. I was ruminating on that thought during a morning walk with the dog recently. It all seems so wonderful. A great place to store all of that information, all those pictures, contacts, thoughts. Just like a floppy disk, but bigger and easier. (Don't know what a floppy disk is? Ask someone who is at least 40.)

But at our house we have also been struggling with our internet. Okay, we have not been struggling with the internet, we have been struggling with our frustration over our internet provider and our lack of internet access. So what happens when everything you have is in the cloud and you can't reach the cloud? That is what hit me during my morning rumination. First they get you to give them all your stuff, then they restrict access to that very stuff and charge you for it.

The same thing happens with your money. You earn money for the work you do and you want to keep it safe, so you put it in a bank. As a matter of fact, the bank even pays you to let them use your money (because they earn money using your money). But then they stop paying you (you get no interest), and instead you end up paying more for even less access to your own money. If it were possible, you could take it out and hide it in your mattress, but these days you can barely pay for things with cash. Everything is digital, you use your phone to bank and even to pay for the parking meter or bus ticket.

Even our relationships have moved off into the cloud. There has been more than enough said about the trend toward absent presence (physically present in a group, but actually absent due to being present on your 'smart' phone). We have given away our relationships - the touch, intonation, the fidgeting that makes us who we are - and settle for a shadowed version of friendship. Mind you, this internet possibility is wonderful for those who are separated by great distances. But do we really want to place our proximally close relationships into these fickle, clouded hands?

And that is where my chewing was really bringing me. Our relationship with Jesus is something that too often also gets loaned out, passed into the hands of others. I don't need to think about a certain position, a truth - if it is what Jesus wants or not - there are others who think about those things and tell me about it. This has long been a discussion among Christians: how much does one rely on teachers (for teachers are given by God - think about Eph. 4:11-15) and how much responsibility lies with the individual believer?

If I give away my responsibility to know Jesus, to walk in relationship with him, to know what he thinks is important and how he wants things done - then I place myself in a position where those who say they know hold me hostage. I must then go to them for information. OR I retain only a vague, shadowy relationship with the very One who created me and knows me better than any other. I don't want to give away this relationship. I don't want someone helpfully relieving me of the 'troublesome task' of truly getting to know and follow Jesus.

I will continue using the cloud and the bank and social media - and enjoying the perks - but I will also pay attention to retaining and building the most important links for life. I will continue sharing thoughts and ideas with other followers of Jesus, listening to teaching that can help me stretch and grow. But I will above all continue to keep Jesus close, learning from His word what he thinks is most important and putting that into practice.