Companies used to have plenty of violence, and arguably a monopoly of violence in some contexts, e.g. the massive private armies of the Dutch West India or Brit

Companies used to have plenty of violence, and arguably a monopoly of violence in some contexts, e.g. the massive private armies of the Dutch West India or British East India companies. Coca Cola has murdered union reps, and fruit companies have used actual government militaries as tools of their own game, too. Hell, it's a primary trope in cyberpunk -- mega-corps having their own private ninja cyborg army, and with the growth of Iraq-era military contracting, it's not crazy to see that happening. "By 1803, at the height of its rule in India, the East India company had a private army of about 260,000—twice the size of the British Army" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_West_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_West_India_Company