Stacy Mitchell on democracy
From The Rising Anti-Monopoly Movement: Overcoming Economic Tyranny | Stacy Mitchell · · Bioneers
“Powerlessness leads to terrible places — it leads to apathy and despair and withdrawal; it leads to a longing for a strong man. Powerlessness is poison in the veins of a democracy.”
On , Stacy Mitchell, Executive VP & General Counsel at American Water Works, spoke about democracy during The Rising Anti-Monopoly Movement: Overcoming Economic Tyranny | Stacy Mitchell on Bioneers.
About Stacy Mitchell
Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, has been a prominent voice in the anti-monopoly movement, arguing that the consolidation of corporate power undermines democracy and economic opportunity. In public appearances throughout 2024, she stated that the roots of this concentration lie in a decision made 40 years ago to abandon antitrust enforcement, a shift she attributed to the influence of legal scholar Robert Bork. Mitchell has described a growing political coalition against monopolies, noting that majorities of both Democrats and Republicans view large corporations negatively, and she has pointed to alliances between labor and small businesses as evidence of a broad-based movement. She has cited specific examples of corporate power, including Amazon's control of online shopping traffic and its practices toward third-party sellers, as well as the role of Google and Meta in capturing advertising revenue that once supported local journalism. Mitchell has also highlighted recent federal actions, stating that President Biden repudiated the experiment of allowing corporate consolidation and that the Federal Trade Commission has taken steps such as proposing a rule to ban non-compete clauses. She has characterized the anti-monopoly movement as essential to democratic governance, arguing that economic liberty is crucial to political liberty. In her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in 2019, Mitchell advocated for structural separations between platform operators and the businesses that rely on them, as well as for non-discrimination rules and stronger merger enforcement.