[seahorse3]

My Christmas Missive - the Business of Mankind:

There is a fiction that permeates our society called the corporation, a legal shield. This this souless fiction we even recognize as a "person" protects an owner from any personal responsibility for the actions of the corporation and once this responsibility is removed, it corrupts the heart of man turning it away from from the business of mankind to viewing his fellow man as an expense that needs to be reduced in order to maximize his own personal profit.

In Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol" the troubled spirit of Marley returns from the grave to warn his former business partner Scrooge that "mankind was my business" and not the pursuit of profit. Although a moving story we have ignored the warning of Marley and instead institutionalized and legalized the pursuit of profit, the pursuit of greed, into the souless fictional "person" known today as the corporation, who unlike Marley will never go to the grave and to return to walk the earth in penitence and unlike Scrooge has no soul to redeem in life. In legalizing this fictional person we call the corporation, we have shielded its owners from personal responsibility for anything but the profit it may reap. Though the corporation may break contracts, pollute, discriminate, sell defective products, even deadly products, it's owners will bear no personal responsibility. They are given this shield to run full speed ahead in pursuit of maximum personal gain without any fear of personal harm on the battlefield of life.

Thus we have created legal, heartless fictions, supposed engines of economic growth whose business is not the business of mankind but pursuit of quarterly profit regardless of the expense, even be it at the expense of mankind. In fact, any expense of mankind, a tax, is derided by these supposed capitalists owners as "socialism", meaning anti-capitalist, anti-growth, as affecting their bottom line of "profit" at all costs. They rant against any business of mankind as evidence of the lack of personal responsibility on the part of the person receiving it. This is the tragedy - for it is the Jacob Marley's and Ebeneezer Scrooges hiding behind the corporate fiction which are the antithesis of anything closely resembling personal responsibility. If capitalism means taking personal responsibility, then the corporate fiction is the antithesis of it. The corporate fiction which views the business of mankind as a liability is a cancer permeates our society, spreading its view of growth at the expense of mankind and eschewing the false belief that they are capitalist when in fact they are cowards hiding behind a legal shield of no responsibility unwilling to take personal risk for their business decisions. They accept no responsibility for the business of mankind and instead view mankind as a liability, as an expense that needs to be reduced, in order to maximize their own personal profit.

This fiction is not capitalist and actively works against the business of mankind. Until these "capitalists" hiding behind the corporate fiction are ready to accept personal responsibility for their business decisions and do away with the souless fiction we call the corporation, only the medicine of "socialism" can assuage the pain of the corporation that attacks the business of mankind and constantly attempts to reduce the expense of it on its bottom line.

[Cloud9]

The corporate shield is necessary for almost any economic activity in our litigious society. With out it one slip and fall could impoverish all the investors in a corporation. If you want to reign in corporations, there are three things you must do: First you must rewrite the tax code so that they pay their fair share of taxes. Second you rewrite the campaign finance law so that they may only contribute to candidates from the state in which their corporation is registered. Third they must report and count any fee spent on lobbying as a campaign contribution.

Once you have done that bring out the Sherman Anti Trust Act and put it back in play.

[Duende]

seahorse3, you bring up good points and every gripe you expound is true of course. However, what you must realize is that none of this is particularly news; there are those who have caught on to the racket and wish to see corporations subjected to the rigors that cloud9 suggested, and those who don't. Unfortunately, we are vastly out-numbered (or at least out-influenced) by those who wish to see the status quo unchanged. It is difficult to accept that this particular war was fought and lost a long time ago; we live in the postscript. There is no chance for things to do anything but get worse for the majority of Americans over the medium to long term.

I've come to believe lately that there is no way out other than to openly boycott this way of life. Those who are truly sick and tired of economic injustice will express their dissatisfaction by obtaining goods and services in the gray market, and by-pass the officially-sanctioned modes of economic activity thereby starving the corporate leaders of ungodly profits. My fantasy, at least...

[seahorse3]

Nothing will change. I realize that. I just want people who don't already see the hypocrisy of "socialism" for what it is, the fiction of the corporation is in itself socialism, protecting one from any personal responsibility.

[Revi]

The corporation is the only way for things like farms to survive. If they had to pay all the medical bills of one member they would be bankrupt every generation as older people die. I don't like the corporate structure, but it's a necessary evil. The big corporations need to pay their fair share.

[seahorse3]

I respectfully disagree that there is ever a "necessary evil." The end never justifies the means. For there is no end, no finality to time, only a only the time we have and the means by which we live it. Thus "the end" is the means by which we choose to live.

[Duende]

Revi wrote:

The corporation is the only way for things like farms to survive.

Yeah, because farms never existed before corporations...

[Revi]

I have friends who own an organic farm under a LLP, and other friends who have S-corporations. If they didn't have this kind of protection they would not be farming. I know that you were referring to big corporations, but us little people on the ground need to figure out a way to survive. If that means having a small corporation, so be it. It's just a structure. If we had national health care maybe it wouldn't be necessary.

[seahorse3]

Health insurance has driven up the cost of healthcare, like student loans have driven up the cost of education. I've struggled with this question of corporations in my thoughts for awhile now. One solution I'm mulling around is if one operates as a "sole proprietor" then they don't have to pay any taxes. If they are willing to take on and bear the risk of their decisions then their incentive is no income taxes, no unemployment ins, no workers comp, no FICA etc. Workers would in turn work for these companies at their own risk. I think people would do it, especially the small businesses.

[seahorse3]

We only need socialism because we don't have capitalism, not with the veil of the corporation which is a form of social protection offered by the state to those who operate a business. It's never a choice between socialism or corporatism, for one comes with the other. The fallacy is in the current system, we do not have capitalism, meaning personal responsibility. For example, if we did away with the corporate veil we would also do away with all the socialism designed to protect against its abuses, like unemployment insurance which is cost prohibitive to many businesses, workers compensation, even so far as all withholdings, FICA etc. I would go so far as to say we eliminate the income tax for any so willing to step from behind the corporate curtain and take responsibility.

[Serial_Worrier]

The corporate shield is necessary for almost any economic activity in our litigious society. With out it one slip and fall could impoverish all the investors in a corporation. If you want to reign in corporations, there are three things you must do: First you must rewrite the tax code so that they pay their fair share of taxes. Second you rewrite the campaign finance law so that they may only contribute to candidates from the state in which their corporation is registered. Third they must report and count any fee spent on lobbying as a campaign contribution.

Once you have done that bring out the Sherman Anti Trust Act and put it back in play.

As long as politicians are allowed to demagogue corporations and promise they will inflict punishment on them in exchange for votes, I'm totally in favor of allowing corporations to contribute to any candidates they wish.

[careinke]

I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one of them. Corporations are a figment of governments imagination, which is Ironic, since governments are a figment of peoples imagination. Like VM, I see circles everywhere, LOL.

[ObiWan]

Health insurance has driven up the cost of healthcare, like student loans have driven up the cost of education. I've struggled with this question of corporations in my thoughts for awhile now. One solution I'm mulling around is if one operates as a "sole proprietor" then they don't have to pay any taxes. If they are willing to take on and bear the risk of their decisions then their incentive is no income taxes, no unemployment ins, no workers comp, no FICA etc. Workers would in turn work for these companies at their own risk. I think people would do it, especially the small businesses.

In America in the 21st century, there is no such thing as "at their own risk". It is always someone else's fault, someone else caused their lot in life to be less than stellar, and even when you sign a liability waiver you still sue afterwards, for just those types of reasons. Pass a constitutional amendment making sole proprietors immune from prosecution from any and all crimes they commit, THEN maybe we can talk about "at your own risk" having meaning in America.

[Revi]

I think the problem is that people get sick and die and that's a reason to sell a farm or business to pay the medical bills that inevitably pile up. Corporations don't have that problem. I do think that they have too much power and that they are evil things, but I don't personally feel that I can change the situation. Being a martyr for the cause may be great, but then the next generation doesn't have a farm or business at all.

[Shaved Monkey]

Its pretty easy to slay a corporation,you stop giving them money.
You shop less,recycle more,repair instead of replace,swap, barter,grow and cook your own food,share your excess,donate and volunteer your time and skills.
Your community and the world will be a happier, better place and corporations will die.

[Novus]

I agree with you seahorse3 what you wrote was very well said from the empathetic point of view.

You should check out this video from the logical point of view just so you really get the whole story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np ... ure=relmfu

[Revi]

That RSA animate was awesome! I think that Capitalism hit a wall when peak oil came along, and it's a dying beast trying to extract its substenance from local economies now instead of living off the expansion of fossil fuels. I think the only way to go is to starve the beast. Don't buy stuff at malls, and as much as possible participate only in the local economy. The big fat cats can sit on their piles of money while we barter and use other ways of creating an economy such as time banks.

The big banks are in trouble. They are gambling the larger economy away as money becomes more and more worthless. Why not abandon their stupid economy? Right now it doesn't work for a lot of people.

[Duende]

Shaved Monkey wrote:

Its pretty easy to slay a corporation,you stop giving them money.
You shop less,recycle more,repair instead of replace,swap, barter,grow and cook your own food,share your excess,donate and volunteer your time and skills.
Your community and the world will be a happier, better place and corporations will die.

Well said!

[peripato]

:Its pretty easy to slay a corporation,you stop giving them money.
You shop less,recycle more,repair instead of replace,swap, barter,grow and cook your own food,share your excess,donate and volunteer your time and skills.

The world is not really interested in stopping economic growth, so this behaviour will only appeal to a few, marginalised, people.

Your community and the world will be a happier, better place and corporations will die.

This will happen after the economy collapses. Not before. I'm not so sure that everyone will necessarily be happier afterwards.

[Loki]

:Its pretty easy to slay a corporation,you stop giving them money.
You shop less,recycle more,repair instead of replace,swap, barter,grow and cook your own food,share your excess,donate and volunteer your time and skills.

The world is not really interested in stopping economic growth, so this behaviour will only appeal to a few, marginalised, people.

Your community and the world will be a happier, better place and corporations will die.

This will happen after the economy collapses. Not before. I'm not so sure that everyone will necessarily be happier afterwards.

Happy or unhappy, those who extricate themselves from the BAU economy right now will be better placed when our current system goes tits up. Shaved has it right, I think. Well said.

You are also right that few people will choose to live this kind of lifestyle to its fullest extent right now. But many people are taking small steps to extricate themselves from utter dependence on corporate consumerism, e.g., the rise of the local food movement and the renewed popularity of community gardens. It's not “either or.”

How far down the self-sufficiency and localism rabbit holes one wants to go is up to the individual, but I think even little things like getting a community garden plot or buying a CSA share helps tremendously, if only to briefly snap us out of our zombie consumerist slumber.