The Big Business In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Big corporations and businesses have been thriving in America since the late nineteenth century. The definition of the term “Big business” is “an economic group consisting of large profit-making corporations especially with regard to their influence on social or political policy”(“Big Business”).

Some big corporations include the steel companies, the oil companies, and the railroad industry. Some modern-day businesses include Apple and Android, and oil companies today. Many people believe that big businesses pose a threat to the future of America. Big business owners continue to get rich by taking advantage of its employees and their consumers, leaving them in a continuous state of demand. One of the first large corporations to form in America

They soon learn that when they get here it is not what they expected at all. The big companies basically ran the city. Health care, housing, and family life relied on the businesses. It was very hard to find open and available jobs. Everyone in the family had to work to support the home. Multiple small businesses did not control the city, instead, the city was controlled by one large business. This only benefits the large business owners and affects the citizens of the city poorly. They get poor healthcare, poor food quality, and poor air quality. A large portion of the population have suffered from diseases and did not get the health care they needed because the big business owners are not aiding their workers. The main company which controlled everyone had been the Packingtown. It was a meat company. There they did everything from producing the meat to packing it and shipping it. This provided many jobs for the people living in packingtown. It controlled them. There was nothing else they could do, granted if they even got a job in the first place. They also had to work in harsh conditions. The business owners would simply fire the workers and replace them if they did not want to work in these conditions. Firing them would leave them jobless and with no money. Packingtown was making profits while its workers suffered in harsh

Although some people today believe that America is benefitting from large companies. For example, their is more laws to regulate companies and how the companies treat their workers. . There are also many companies that offer health care plans and retirement plans. In recent years large companies have also been paying their workers higher wages. And the more profit a company makes the more it benefits the economy. “Americans think the U.S. economy benefits when big businesses or small businesses make a profit, although, by 84% to 64%, more consider small-business profits helpful”(Saad). Although those are some supporting facts for large businesses in America, they are too powerful and too rich. In the past and even in present time large companies generally hurt their consumers and workers. The main focus for businesses is to make money off their customers. That could be by using cheap materials to produce products and selling it for more, scamming customers, and not paying workers enough money. Some large companies that have existed in the past include the steel companies, the oil industry, and the railroad industries. Some present-day businesses are technology businesses such as Apple, cable companies, etc. If there were less large businesses, that would give the smaller industries a chance to flourish and would benefit