Now we are human commodities

[Echo In Light]

Now we are human commodities
By Chris Maser

12/30/07 "ICH" -- The corporation, it turns out, is an invention of the British Crown through the creation of the East India Company by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, which, being the original, transnational corporation, set today’s precedence for big businesses. The East India Company, "found India rich and left it poor," says author Nick Robin. The corporate structure of the East India Company was deemed necessary to allow the British to exploit their colonies in such a way that the owner of the enterprise was, for the first time, separated from responsibility for how the enterprise behaved.

This conscious separation of personal responsibility from the act of looting is not surprising because "looting" is, theoretically as least, considered immoral in Christian circles. The corporation is thus a "legal fiction," that lets the investors who own the business avoid personal responsibility whenever the business dealings are unethical or even blatantly illegal, despite the fact that such unscrupulous behavior profits them enormously.

A corporation, after all, has but one purpose—to make money for the owners. Economist Milton Friedman gave voice to this pinhole vision when he answered his own rhetorical question: "So the question is, do corporate executives, provided they stay within the law, have responsibilities in their business activities other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible? And my answer to that is, no they do not." In fact, the "corporate system," say analysts, "has no room for beneficence toward employees, communities, or the environment," a notion endlessly demonstrated on a daily global scale.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18977.htm

[flashl]

1. We have been commodities since the inception of 'America'.

[Echo In Light]

2. Drip, drip, drip, incrementally

[TalkingDog]

5. A little further back. At least to the creation of monarchical states

and probably before.

Once you have a leader that is so powerful that the people cannot overthrow him, the people become commodities.

If you have a village leader who is a tyrant, and the people are numerous or angry enough, well, that's a hangin'. If that village leader has a militia, a lot of money and weapons, he can threaten your life, your family or your livelihood. At that point, if you are powerless (ie lack money, means of forcing his hand, or firepower) you become a useable product.

That's the way of the world. Doesn't make it right. Just means that people really don't ever learn the lessons history has to offer.


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[boobooday]

3. It's true! Corporations can kill

Directly or indirectly, and yet they are NEVER subject to the death penalty.

A death penalty for corporations might be an excellent deterrent/motivation for corporations to act ethically. If they are negligent, greedy, or in some other way exploitative or harmful, they are DISSOLVED. We would have some catch up to do, bringing all the former offenders to justice.

But it would do much more good than the killing of arbitrarily chosen nasty humans.

And I like bringing the language of "capital" punishment to the discussion of corporate responsibility.

[bluerum]

4. I hear that Vancouver BC requires corporations that wish to locate

in the city limits to make substantial contributions to supporting the cities infrastructure and quality of life. The city requires corpo-responsibility.

The results I hear, have been quite impressive.

The Wikipedia Entry for Vancouver states that the city is consistently ranked among the top three most livable in the world.

I have never been there but I understand that there is a diverse and thriving population. A city that values its citizens and requires corpo-entities that profit from the skills and education of the population to contribute towards the well being and quality of life of those citizens.

This indicates to me that it is a merely matter of political will to enforce a better model for corporate responsibility. I consider this political will a kind of litmus test that indicates the priorities that an aspiring presidential candidate has.

If you let the corpo-entities run rampant over the people, they will.

If you require corpo-entities to help support the cities they exist in and acknowledge the debt they owe to ALL the people who make up the corporation, then they will.

Political and legislative will.