The Power of Corporations

[Mechanicalsalvation]

I have been pondering this for some time:

Corporations have no responsibility, no accountability, nothing - their existence is purely self-perpetuation, legally bound as they are to make as much money as possible for their shareholders.

To channel Hugo Weaving: There is another organism that behaves this way. The virus. And now more than ever we can see the destruction it can wreak.

Nice article:http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...orporations-enemy-within-business-politicians

The corporate consensus is enforced not only by the lack of political choice, but by an assault on democracy itself. Steered by business lobbyists, the EU and the US are negotiating a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This would suppress the ability of governments to put public interest ahead of profit. It could expose Britain to cases like El Salvador’s, where an Australian company is suing the government before a closed tribunal of corporate lawyers for $300m (nearly half the country’s annual budget) in potential profits foregone. Why? Because El Salvador refused permission for a gold mine that would poison people’s drinking water.

Through a lobbying industry and a political funding system, successive governments have failed to reform, corporations select and buy and bully the political class to prevent effective challenge to their hegemony. Any politician brave enough to stand up to them is relentlessly hounded by the corporate media. Corporations are the enemy within.

 

[Kozmos]

Corporations will eventually cease, when they have strip-mined everything including human resources to the point where people either go berserk and unmake them or a disruptive technology revolution occurs. Naturally it would be nice if people woke up to the fact and checked them earlier, but I'm not betting on it.

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

I belive this belongs here too:

Link to video.

 

[warpus]

Corporations are only as powerful as politicians allow them to be. If your government is sane, there are going to be enough regulations in place to prevent corporations from growing into uncontrollable blobs that swallow everything in their way. Which is essentially the end-all of capitalism, a giant blob of all wealth in the universe, forever growing and satisfying shareholders.

Regulations are some of the best weapons against that sort of thing, but you've got to remember to deploy them early enough in the process. If you give corporations a completely free and open market to incubate in, you're going to start seeing blobs sooner rather than later.

 

[Tee Kay]

Corporations are only as powerful as politicians allow them to be. If your government is sane, there are going to be enough regulations in place to prevent corporations from growing into uncontrollable blobs that swallow everything in their way.

Unless of course politicians and corporations are of one and the same mind. Bought, or otherwise.

They're smart, these corporations. They infect the body's defence mechanisms first, taking them down before infecting the rest of the body.

 

[gay_Aleks]

I wouldn't really call "politicians" the defenders of whatever system you're running. They're more like the organisms some animals could use in order to digest it's own food easier, but yet can exist without them.

 

[Tee Kay]

That's our bargain with governments, in theory. We pay taxes, they keep society running more or less smoothly.

Granted it doesn't always work very well. But then it's not like you never get sick.

 

[Rubendg12]

Corporations are only as powerful as politicians allow them to be. If your government is sane, there are going to be enough regulations in place to prevent corporations from growing into uncontrollable blobs that swallow everything in their way. Which is essentially the end-all of capitalism, a giant blob of all wealth in the universe, forever growing and satisfying shareholders.

Regulations are some of the best weapons against that sort of thing, but you've got to remember to deploy them early enough in the process. If you give corporations a completely free and open market to incubate in, you're going to start seeing blobs sooner rather than later.

But what happens when the company breaks these regulations? The fines are laughable most of the time. The owners arent considered responsible ( in a stock market situation.) so the ceo and board get fired, for executing the illegal instructions of the owners, and get send away with a big fatt bonus for their services. And they contine on the same road.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[warpus]

Unless of course politicians and corporations are of one and the same mind. Bought, or otherwise.

They're smart, these corporations. They infect the body's defence mechanisms first, taking them down before infecting the rest of the body.

Well, yes, you're right. Conflict of interest laws are important too. I bundle them in together with the regulations.

But what happens when the company breaks these regulations? The fines are laughable most of the time.

Yep, sane laws should include proper punishment and a lack of loopholes.

Sent from my Amiga.

 

[Maverick488]

I'll be concerned more with corporations' powers when they can force you to buy their product, imprison you or kill you. Congress can destroy or prop up entire industries...

 

[Tigranes]

^^ Welcome to gaming forum, Maverick!

First post and the first point made. And now the first rebuttal: corporations usually consist of very like-minded people. The problem divisive Congress has right now is actually about agreeing on anything.

 

[Gary Childress]

I'll be concerned more with corporations' powers when they can. . .

See below...

force you to buy their product

"Monopoly".

imprison you

"Breech of contract"

or kill you.

Union carbide in Bhopal India for example?

Congress can destroy or prop up entire industries...

Corporations can destroy them by moving them overseas (manufacturing in the US) or prop them up with advertising (cigarettes)

Are you concerned now or are you just not concerned with corporations. . .end of story?

BTW. Welcome to the forums "maverick".

 

[Zack]

I'll be concerned more with corporations' powers when they can force you to buy their product, imprison you or kill you. Congress can destroy or prop up entire industries...

I am not concerned with A because I perceive B to be worse. Anything that isn't as bad as B is not worth any discussion or concern whatsoever.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Corporations are only as powerful as politicians allow them to be. If your government is sane, there are going to be enough regulations in place to prevent corporations from growing into uncontrollable blobs that swallow everything in their way. Which is essentially the end-all of capitalism, a giant blob of all wealth in the universe, forever growing and satisfying shareholders.

Regulations are some of the best weapons against that sort of thing, but you've got to remember to deploy them early enough in the process. If you give corporations a completely free and open market to incubate in, you're going to start seeing blobs sooner rather than later.

The problem is when politicians are pocketed by corporations to convince the public that regulation is a bad thing, and all hail the job creators and such shmonsense. Tax is evil, free market is holy.

And people actually eat that skip up as if it were ... uhm ... bacon I suppose. Even witnessing the complete collapse of that hooey and bringing chaos to the markets for years and the downfall of banks, and the ironic massive loss of jobs (all hail the job creators) will have these people cheer for the job creators, praise greed as the ultimate virtue. And be convinced the regulations were at the root cause of the downfall.

I guess when you've been in advertising for so many years, it's not that difficult to sell yet another lie to the doofus public.

Yep, we're quite the pillocky lot sometimes.

 

[Tahuti]

Unless of course politicians and corporations are of one and the same mind. Bought, or otherwise.

They're smart, these corporations. They infect the body's defence mechanisms first, taking them down before infecting the rest of the body.

The problem is that in a democracy, parts of society control the state parasitically through the control of media and parliamentary processes. The state is no longer sovereign, which is not only full independence from outside actors or lack of entities formally above a state, but also free from control from the state's subjects. To end lobbyism and the like, one will also need to abolish democracy.

 

[Tee Kay]

To end lobbyism and the like, one will also need to abolish democracy.

Abolish democracy and lobbying merely takes another form, and this time ordinary people have no recourse instead of little recourse.

Maybe it'll get called by a new name. I don't think that's necessarily an improvement.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Wait, how does abolishing democracy end lobbying, instead of giving it full reign?

 

[Gary Childress]

Wait, how does abolishing democracy end lobbying, instead of giving it full reign?

Totally agree Ziggy.

 

[Tahuti]

Abolish democracy and lobbying merely takes another form, and this time ordinary people have no recourse instead of little recourse.

Democracy engenders lobbyism because it makes the states no longer sovereign in the sense of being self-sufficient from its subjects. Sovereignty is not only being independent from overarching political structures.

Wait, how does abolishing democracy end lobbying, instead of giving it full reign?

Democracy is about the subjects of the state giving input. There is not really a way subjects can silence each other, so they assent to the outcome. People vote on parties that accept lobbyist favours, so the problem lies here. People being too incompetent to use democracy is not really an argument for more democracy.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Oh. Good I didn't use that argument then.