Beer Wars

I really like beer. Michelob Amber Bock is the beer of my choice, poured into a pre-chilled glass.

Then I watched Beer Wars, and I realized that Budweiser is an example of all that is wrong with America, passed down from the older generation to us, the new generation.

Budweiser is a massive corporation that stays in business by strongarming the smaller competition, using mass advertisement, using laws meant to keep beer competitive to keep beer uncompetitive, and being a major lobbying force in Washington, D.C.

Where did we go so wrong?

When did we allow corporations to have any say in how our government was run?

When did we allow ourselves to let commercials think for us? How many of us drink a Bud brand (I, by the way, had no idea Michelob was Budweiser until today, foolish me) without bothering to even try what else is on the market? How many of us have sampled through all the different kinds of beers available to us to find what we really want? Or do we just buy what we see on television?

When did we stop looking at the money in our wallet and saying, "That's mine. If I'm going to give it away, I'm going to get something that I really like."
Instead, we settle for whatever the major corporations want to sell us. They own so many of us. They tell us what to buy, tell us what kind of television we like, tell us what to think.

When was it American to become a large corporation for the sake of being a large corporation? Why does Bud feel the need to own all aspects of the market? Why do they even bother to strong arm out all up and coming beers? Are they really so afraid? Do they really need to own all of the market?

With every dollar we spend at a major corporation, we seal our own fate. The fate of so many of us working for these behemoth. The reason why our government bows down to them is because they have our money. And we complain about this.

As we go on voting for the same parties and buying from the major corporations. Bud. Coke. Pepsi. Microsoft. Wal Mart. Starbucks. Democrat. Republican.

It's our vote. It's our dollar.

So why do they own us?

Because we let them.

What little hope I see in my generation is the independent trend. Independent music. Independent political parties.

Independent beer. Small breweries slugging it out with the big guys, resisting take overs, staying alive because they have a superior product. Staying alive because they love what they do.

Nothing is more American than a small business.

Especially if it brews beer.