The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power
I'm required to watch "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power" for my college sociology class. My instructor is a total socialist.
I want to know how you feel about it. In what arguments in the film are valid and which are not? WHY? (Don't forget to explain why) I'm hoping this will help me actually learn something in this class.
If you haven't seen the film, but would like to participate in the discussion anyway, then please be upfront about that fact. If you would like to see the film then here it is on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6zQO7Jy...
Please remember to vote up this discussion if you think it's worthwhile.
I want to know how you feel about it. In what arguments in the film are valid and which are not? WHY? (Don't forget to explain why) I'm hoping this will help me actually learn something in this class.
If you haven't seen the film, but would like to participate in the discussion anyway, then please be upfront about that fact. If you would like to see the film then here it is on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6zQO7Jy...
Please remember to vote up this discussion if you think it's worthwhile.
This is a constant discussion in libertarian circles, with Objectivists generally supporting corporations. Others disagree: corporations are creatures of the state, they argue. You can find all of that from both sides easily enough. I believe that the corporation as a structure offers powerful potentials for new life forms, such as software, to be legally recognized. To argue that corporations are evil is to claim that people are evil. Indeed, some are... So what?
Agree with MM. A corporation is a legal form whereby people can voluntarily cooperate with other.
It is not productive to ascribe either good or evil to corporates. Any pathology would reflect the owners, the employees and the circumstances in which it operates.
The corporate form, fully owned by government, is used in many lefty societies and could be used in full communistic ones. For them it a way of weakening in appearance the dominant role of government.
FlukeMan2: You have a good opportunity to describe the merits of pursuing profit where a genuine market exists.
"The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power" is not limited to corporates. You should take the pejorative out of 'profit' and leave it to just power. Explain how power based on force is bad, even to the views of a total socialist. Power is legit when based on influence and knowledge.
Aside from corporates, there are other vehicles where-in people cooperate, (voluntarily, by force). You could explore these- cooperatives, clubs, non-profits, partnerships, families, associations, ...