Hm, haha shouldn't this be in paranoia?
As for the whole "corporations are taking over" bit... it's not as bad as half you are making it out to be. For example, Walmart vs. Mom & Pop shop. Mom and pop shops are horrible most of the time - either that or there's absolutely no difference between the prices of their stuff and that of the bigger chains.
Now, if we're talking about, say, pizza joints in NYC, then that's a different story. M&P food shops are really hit & miss. I've had the best pizza ever in NYC on some random corner, but on the other hand I've been to a hole-in-the-wall mexican restaurant that tasted like the place looked.
But you name it, the big chains are equivalent, if not better.
Computer shops? I called to most M&P comp shops looking for a particular video card, and each one was marked up like $20 over what Best Buy has as it's BASE price. On top of that, Best Buy offered a $30 mail in rebate. $50 cheaper than the M&P shop. Why? Bulk purchasing. Best Buy can afford to do this. Other places can't!
Next case? Electronic shop. I was looking for a 15W soldering gun and they didn't even have one. They didn't even have .1 mm tips. Radio shack did! I called every electronic shop around here within a 10 mile radius and none had em. Maybe a 15W soldering gun is rare, but I didn't think so.
Grocery stores? Ok, their deli meats can be cheaper than big chains, but everything else is the same. Chains are better because at any given time they have a million and one things on sale. I guess M&P grocery stores are useful for when you need to find some ultra rare herb that a chain won't have, but how often does that happen?
Also, as mentioned above, M&P shops have horrible return policies. For example, if you return a wireless router to Best Buy and say "it doesn't work," Best Buy will simply take it, put it on the shelf, and give you a refund. No questions asked. The M&P shop will nearly call in a forensic team of scientists to determine whether or not you sabotaged the object in question. That's how they are and it's irritating.
Big chains also do price matching. I bet you any amount of $$ I can call a shop now that has a computer part for MORE than a bigger chain and ask, "They have it cheaper than yours, will you beat their price?" To which they'll respond, "No."
It's not like corporations are forcing you to spend money. You make a conscious choice to walk into a store and buy an item. If you don't want/need it, then don't buy it! I mean, really... If they advertise a new game, if it looks like I'll like it, I'll read a review. If the review is good, I'll buy. Their ad did good. How is that evil?
News... I don't watch news. I could easily go weeks without hearing or reading a single news report. If it's worth knowing, I'll hear it from others. If I'm bored I'll load something up to get a summary of what's going on in the world. Even if I did watch local news or CNN, I'd think they're full of shit on pretty much anything they report. I'll check the facts myself, thanks.
We have the internet, people. Nothing can be controlled unless there's suddenly some super computer controlled by the illuminati that captures all data transmissions and prevents people from spreading the word.
Corporations can be good, they can be bad. For example, Microsoft I'm sure had done some things to stifle innovation in technology because they'd rather make a profit. Enter Open Source. Millions of volunteers from all over the world creating something to perform equally, if not better and get the same tasks done for.. gasp.. free!
For every bad, there is a good created.
Plain and simple, it only controls your life if you let it and if you don't know any better. Society won't fall apart - it will adjust like it always has to big changes in how we live.