Re: The Corporation (was Re: CG: Ligatures etc)
Rich,
The book and the movie, The Corporation, are *not* against
corporations. Nobody is questioning their importance in
modern life and their extremely valuable contributions to
society since they were founded.
But at the same time, they are, as you noted, heir to all
the weaknesses of human nature -- but magnified many times
over because of their concentration of power in the hands
of a very small number of people -- who may be good, who may
be bad, or much more likely, may be blind to the consequences
of their actions.
That point is far too modest:
RC> The fact is, money makes corporations run.
More precisely, money makes universities run, money makes
governments run, money makes hospitals run, money makes
armies run, money makes drug cartels run, money makes
households run, money makes the mafia run, and money makes
churches, synagogues, and mosques run -- as the song goes,
*Money makes the world go round.*
Nobody doubts or even questions that point:
RC> Society couldn't exist in its present form without
> for-profit corporations making up the vast majority of
> organizations.
And therefore, it is essential for everybody in society to
be very, very watchful of entities that are far more powerful
than the vast majority of governments on earth.
RC> To pick an example, look at how the post office or the dmv
> or the city planning departments operate. The soviets tried to
> use central planning and the profitless organization of work
> to benefit society, and they got incredibly inefficient
> organizations like those examples.
Excellent examples of the need for the discipline enforced by
the marketplace. The best corporations are the ones that are
extremely sensitive to the markets. The worst abuses are the
ones that aren't -- monopolies that may be put in place by
gov'ts (e.g., the DMV and other inefficient agencies) or those
that *buy* their way into gov't, such as Haliburton.
Never forget the wisdom of the two greatest Republican presidents
of the 20th century: Teddy Roosevelt, who was the biggest trust
buster of them all, and Dwight David Eisenhower, who in his farewell
address warned Americans of the greatest danger to America -- the
rising might of the military-industrial complex.
And by the way, I say this as somebody who was employed for 30 years
at what has been called "best managed corporation in the world" (IBM)
and who is the CEO of a tiny corporation named VivoMind Intelligence.
John