Running head: CASE STUDY: THE AMANDO PENA ENTERPRISES MONOPOLY 1

Case Study: The Amando Pena Enterprises Monopoly

Michelle Estrada

ORGL-3332-BV2

Dr. Christopher Nelson

June 29, 2019

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Case Study: The Amando Pena Enterprises Monopoly

Amando Pena Enterprises is Roma, Tx.’s most prominent corporation and is the

cornerstone for the entire city’s needs, as they operate within all facets of consumer needs such

as food, tools, and even sporting goods through their vast and powerful branches across the small

town along the frontier.

However, as a result of Pena Enterprises’ grip over the city, issues have arisen from a

variety of oppositional groups who argue that Pena Enterprises is a legal monopoly that forces

the town to bend towards its will through their sheer resources and finances. This issue is further

compounded by the fact that Pena Enterprises has steadily grown beyond its already established

roots into full-scale, all-need stores such as AMCLO which distributes every possible social need

ranging from athletics to weaponry.

As a result, leaders within Pena Enterprises have become the target of accusations of

utilizing the town’s size, population, and overall lack of resources in order to establish a

monopoly, an illicit practice where only one individual or enterprise sells and distributes good to

their allotted communities. Although monopolies and the overall destruction of opposing

resources is advocated in certain philosophical paradigms such as The Art of War by Sun-tzu

which declares that “all warfare is based on deception” (Sun-tzu, 1964) and that forces should

“give [the enemy] no rest [and] if his forces are united, separate them” (Sun-tzu).

However, the era of the great military might of Sun-tzu has since passed, and our current

history has since leaned towards peace and away from violence since the outbreak of two world

wars. While absolute rule was once admired when the world was ruled under the Divine Right

of Kings, our society has since shifted towards overall peace, unity, and understanding—
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something that Pena Enterprises has shied away from in an effort to continue their vast empire

within the local community.

This is particularly troublesome for Pena’s leader(s), as the construction and overall

operation of monopolies carry serious penalties if investigated by federal officials, as laws such

as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 have declared that “Every contract, combination in the

form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several

States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal” (Uknow, n.d.).

In addition, despite the popular notion that blue collar crime is more criminalized than

white collar crime, the penalties associated for illicit, corporate crimes are actually very severe

and can easily bring financial ruin to any corporation accused of breaking such malum

prohibitum laws and can even carry federal prison sentences, which unlike state sentences, have

little to any chance of parole or possibility of avoiding conviction once enough evidence has

been gathered for the prosecution to craft a case against the individual group or entity.

This is especially troublesome when dealing with criminal conspiracy charges, as they

often require a minimum of a decade of imprisonment when convicted, and under the current

statute of conspiracy, Pena Enterprises could find themselves in serious ethical and legal issues

if they do not attempt to disrupt the perception that they are indeed part of a conspiracy to

continue their monopoly over Roma, Tx.

Given the issues that Pena Enterprises can potentially deal with, it is imperative that its

leaders to whatever they can to repair the image of the enterprise. Although such a solution

would not prevent the corporation from continuing its outright illegal activities, it would at least

provide the illusion of progress—something that many of our citizens are happy to enjoy despite

the fact that they are mere tools in order to draw public support.
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The answer to providing this illusion could be carried out in numerous ways, primarily

through philanthropy and charities that are geared towards the overall image of Pena Enterprises.

Such events can include cook outs, educational donations, and countless other charity events.

This would increase overall public support and dismiss the notion that Pena Enterprises has (and

still will be) carrying out illicit activities in the mind of the public—the only opinion that matters

in a town as small as Roma, Tx.

Scholars, politics, and any opposing factions to Pena Enterprises would primarily center

on the paradigm found within The Analects of Confucius which argue that rulers should “base

their government upon virtuous principles, so that they can be like the pole-star which remains

steadfast in its place…as all the host of citizens turn towards them” (Confucius, 1938).

However, given their scholarly roots deep-seated in virtue, such opposition would be able

to break through the mask of Pena Enterprises’ ‘charity’ and even turn it against them by

declaring their practices as mere attempts to cover up for their monopoly over the city. Such

thinkers would not have to be very prepared in order to fight Pena Enterprises and the proposed

‘solution’, as even the solution itself does not void the fact that Pena Enterprises has broken

multiple federal laws prohibiting true capitalism.

Instead of relying on their beliefs alone, such thinkers would merely have to turn to the

pages of the law, as the matter goes beyond ethics and into legal criminality. However, as a

result of Pena Enterprise’s massive wealth and overall power, the possibility of such an event

ever occurring is practically non-existent—just as it has been for the past few decades.

The enterprise’s absolute monopoly is a symbol of modern-day tyranny; while citizens of

our history’s pages feared oppression and even death at the hands of their rulers, our modern-day

citizens deal with the everyday cruelty of an illicit environment controlled by a select few.
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References

Confucius, & In Waley, A. (1938). The Analects of Confucius. New York: Random House.

Retrieved June 28 from http://confucius-1.com/analects/analects-2.html

Milton Friedman (February 2002) [1962]. "VIII: Monopoly and the Social Responsibility of

Business and Labor". Capitalism and Freedom (40th anniversary ed.). The

University of Chicago Press. p. 208.

Sun-tzu, ., & Griffith, S. B. (1964). The Art of War. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved June 28,

2019 from http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html

UKnow. (n.d.). “Sherman Anti-Trust Act, And Analysis”. Retrieved June 28, 2019, from

https://butnowyouknow.net/those-who-fail-to-learn-from-history/sherman-anti-trust-act-

and-analysis/