Please explain in one word or three short paragraphs whether the following industries are beneficial or predatory. If beneficial a good explanation would include how the current industry configuration is better (for the common person) than the prevailing alternatives. We are, of course, talking about American industries with an understanding of multi-national operations.
- Large Banks
- Pornography
- Car Dealerships
- Tax Preparation
- Health Insurance
- Pharmaceuticals
- Marketing & Advertising
- Big Tech Corporations
- Investment Brokerage
- Military Industrial Complex
- Privately Operated Prisons
- Major News Networks
- Large Internet Service Providers
- Political Lobbyists (is this an industry or a system?)
- Fossil Fuels (petroleum, coal, etc.)
- Weapons Manufacturing
- Fast Food Chain Restaurants
- Factory Farmed Meat Producers
- Space reserved for additional entries
Edit1: The reason Tobacco isn’t on the list. If “Big Tobacco” came immediately to mind I’m guessing you’re Gen X or older ~ Hello fellow person from the 20th Century. This is an intentional omission and the reason is I’m going to stand it up as an example (at least for the moment) of how some non-extinguishable industries should go ahead and be allowed to exist in our society. First, we have to take the assumption that some industries will persist, legal or otherwise, whether we want them to or not. Tobacco is one of these. But the frankly astonishing measure of regulation and public education that’s been thrown against it over the past decades has placed Tobacco into [what I’d casually argue] its ideal form …and what others are now due, which is to say, Highly Regulated and Minimally Impactful.
Side note: Possibly we should never have set out to fight a “War on Drugs.” But if we were determined to none-the-less (or if decision-makers could be convinced that we should) then we went about it altogether in the wrong way. But that’s another story.
Additional note: The list may shrink or expand and the order is not intended to convey significance.