As each person becomes educated about the origins of everyday products and their eyes open to the falsified sense of options provided by big corporations, we are witnessing a great flux in thought that is indicative of the pivotal time we are living in. Consumers are continuously becoming more aware of the monopolization occurring in every corner of the marketplace from food to electronics to clothing. For some, this means, as a consumer base, we have no control over the selection of products available to us, but the reality is consumers have all the power. And this is the time to use it—while you still have a choice.

Let's start with food, where a large portion of America's problems, and the world's problems, can be sourced. The United States has cultivated and built up a mass-produced and hyper-convenient marketplace exponentially over the last 60 years. This is a place where it is normal to have mangoes in Wisconsin during winter—seriously think about that for a minute—and there are highly processed foods shelved in stores daily. In this place we, as individuals, have the choice of Coke or Pepsi and Odwalla smoothies or Naked juice. Great choices, right? But they are the same choice. Coca-Cola is the current owner of Odwalla and Pepsi owns the Naked juice empire. According to Natural News, after these soda corporations acquired the smaller companies, everything changed—from the juice composition to the use of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) in the drinks.

Let's step back for a minute and discuss what a monopoly actually is (and no it's not just a board game). The Oxford Dictionary definition describes a monopoly as “the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.” Monopolization occurs on a daily basis as small business owners and farmers lose out to the top 1 percent. While monopolies occurring in America can certainly be considered bad, at least for our health, they are not illegal. There are a plethora of Antitrust laws and laws governing business transactions, but there are no laws that ban being a good businessman.

This is where the power of the consumer comes in. There is nothing the government can currently do to make its people eat healthily, choose products that support small businesses, only buy organic non-GMO food, or wear clothes that have been produced with negative carbon output (their creation actually removes carbon from the atmosphere). These choices have to be made by the consumer. The systemic change to make better lives for ourselves and for all of Earth's creatures starts with the first world consumer, with citizens of the (arguably) most influential country on the planet, the people of the United States of America. It starts with us. With the people that have “the exclusive possession or control” of what products we use. Consumers in the United States still have a choice, for now, and it's time to use it.