Entrenchment of vested interests

When any large scale activity has developed giving a livelihood to a group of people, they will use all kinds of arguments and propaganda to prove that it is in the public interest and morally right that that activity should continue (as in the case of: slave trade, tobacco, tranquillizers, nuclear power). International, national and local relationships create structural blocks to the full development of production potential of the global society. Parochial interests and national policy determine what will be traded, and what materials will be used in manufacturing. These same impediments create a military oriented or national security oriented mindset reenforcing cultural taboos about ownership and distribution priorities.

A report (1999) on Indonesia by a Consultancy based in Hong Kong, stated that the uncontrolled fires "illustrate the extent to which vested interests can combine with bureaucratic inertia to frustrate policy implementation." Following an indefinite ban on the use of fire, some firms stepped up the burning so that they could meet their business targets. Many concessions are awarded on the basis of their close political connections to the government.