The corporation overtaking the nation-state as a focus of power has been a staple of science fiction for years. If you’d done the scenario planning exercise in which you imagine future headlines that would tell you if a particular imagined future were coming true, this story from slashdot would be one of the headlines predicting the rise of the corporate state:
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
Posted by: Zonk, on 2006-04-16 03:16:00
theodp writes to mention a C|Net article about Chinese President Hu Jintao’s historic first visit to the U.S. The catch is that his first dinner won’t be at the White House. It will be at Bill Gates’ manse. From the article: “The approximately 100-person guest list is a who’s who of the U.S. Pacific Northwest power elite, including Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz and Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire, said event organizers. The guests will undergo strict security checks before entering Gates’ lodge-style, 66,000-square-foot home overlooking Lake Washington with a reported seven bedrooms, six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, a domed library, a reception hall and an artificial estuary stocked with salmon and trout. Gates and Gregoire are expected to introduce and welcome Hu, who will then offer a toast in front of the gathering.”