> There were many times, at least during the time of colonial empires where companies would run entire towns, regions, and countries. Sometimes they provided ju

> There were many times, at least during the time of colonial empires where companies would run entire towns, regions, and countries. Sometimes they provided just law and order like in British American colonies, but usually they coerced pre-existing political structures and violently exploited the local populations for natural resources. The people unfortunate enough to have natural resources whose land was accessible to colonizers were either exploited or destroyed the desired resources [0] before the colonizer's ambitions could consume them too. FWIW, that type of thing still happens in the Africa and South America with oil and mining and some other resources.