Successful large companies may become environment providers, like universities. That's their self-assigned role as long as starting up is expensive and hard (bu

Successful large companies may become environment providers, like universities. That's their self-assigned role as long as starting up is expensive and hard (bureaucracy, health care, etc.) IBM, Microsoft, Google--they have one or a few core selling products, the rest of their activities could be explained as self-promotion to those that would otherwise invest their time and skills elsewhere. In short, survival. Stretching it, such large companies may become countries in the sense that they cover the needs of their citizens. Like a VM on an OS. The lucky ones will have wise benevolent dictators (the best political option in Plato's government evolution stages--not that I am endorsing it.)