Bert/Greg: Anthropomorphizing the Corporation

[Edward Britton <fremin@geocities.com>]

Bert/Greg::

I am afraid that this is an area of discussion  wherein resides one of my
last refuges of leftism. I can discuss the phenomenon of the American
corporation rationally--and even somewhat astutely--but, based on my
researh and experience, I cannot speak of them fondly. For those who have
not been in one of those, unfortunately, all-too-familiar American
predicaments of having stood against these goliaths for ethical or legal
reasons, the concept of the corporate alien and malevolent nature is
blessedly abstract. I respect those, like Greg, who have not known the
unpleasant potential of modern corporations, but I have felt that which has
made John St. John so vehemently opposed to same.

In the, by no means final analysis, I have learned that corporations and
their special interests have done more to enslave humanity than any other
force since the dawn of our species. Corporations have one purpose and one
purpose only. Anyone who dares become an impediment to these behemoths in
the pursuit of profit (and yes, at labor's expense) will be run over, and,
then, usually with extreme prejudice.

Alas, perhaps it was not by mere accident that Gene Roddenberry introduced
the idea of the Borg into American consciousness just before he died.
Perhaps it was some weird kind of caveat for us all regarding resistence to
the eventual slavery and devastation of economic totalitarianism under the
mighty corporate collective: we shall be assimilated.

Yes, there is a difference between the small corporation which starts out
under private ownership and the giants we now know. The difference,
typically, may be found in the diffusion of responsibility of ownership
once the company becomes public. That and size are about it, but,
admittedly, that's my particular bias.

Edward   ><>


At 09:23 PM 3/8/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello Greg and Edward:
>
>Any relationship between  hard-scrabble-job-creating entrepreneural startup
>corporations (like those you've personally mentioned) and the corporate
giants
>that the media, the legal systems (and unfortunately most of the great
>unwashed) tends to anthropormorphize is purely conincidental. I know, because
>I've started and run small enterprises as well as labored long in  Fortune
>1000 corporate highrises.  It's like saying that fleas are the same as
>elephants because they both have long proboscoses.
>
>Most corporate giants go out of their way to stomp out what they regard as
>entreprenuerial fleas and with them often goes innovation as well as
>competition.  Yet we continue to grant celebrity status to these giants. It's
>not that we should demonize them either, but folks, grow up, they need checks
>and balances just like any other power-weilding part of society or
government.
>They aren't our daddies. All good things don't spring from the profit motive,
>some maybe, but we need to get a national life if we think all...
>
>Bert
>
>Greg Peisert wrote:
>
>> Hello Edward;
>>
>>   I've started two corporations. The first failed. This one seems to be
>> doing fairly well. Actually, I would think the abuses and disregard for the
>> law of which Mr. St. John speaks should be more prevalent in closely held
>> firms than in publicly traded ones where there is more government
>> oversight. I could go through St. John's article and pull out statement
>> after statement that is patently false, but I really don't think it's worth
>> the bother. Perhaps people who are of St. John's disposition should read a
>> book by one of those he finds so evil, like Michael Dell's excellent new
>> book. I read it this weekend. What an inspiration! Great stuff.
>>
>> -- Greg
>>
>> On Sunday, March 07, 1999 10:01 PM, Edward Britton
>> [SMTP:fremin@geocities.com] wrote:
>> > Greg:
>> >
>> > Should you wish to do so, you may write the author concerning your
>> > objections directly to the address attached to the header of the article.
>> >
>> > In the interim, may I assume that you have started and have owned a
>> > corporation? If so, is the corporation now publically traded? I believe
>> the
>> > author's concerns center around publically held corporations and, as
>> such,
>> > are the focus of the treatise forwarded by myself.
>> >
>> > An eager student, Edward   ><>
>> >
>> >
>
>
>
>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
"From the rage of today's downtrodden comes the revenge of tomorrow's
               revolutionary force." Edward Britton   ><>
         http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5285/connector1.html
Talk to the planet: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/Reality_Pump2
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>