Twisted logic as taught in schools over the past 35 yrs. goes like this- 1. School principles use wood paddles to discipline children. 2. Some principles abuse this form of discipline. 3. Therefore the wood paddles are evil. 4. Solution- punish the wood paddles- Eliminate them from the schools. People will go overboard to avoid responsibility and shift blame in most cases. 1. Look at all the evil inflicted by corporations 2. People run corporations. 3. We didn't have knowledge of those activities. 4. I am sorry those records seem to have been accidentally destroyed. 5. Corporations are evil you know. When you don't trust people to act individually responsible with liberty, ie the freedom to conduct business, bear arms, petition the government, own property, practice religion etc. etc., without any government involvement whatsoever than you must be living in a dictatorship. Because the opposite of individual self- government is slavery.
i also find it funny that those who will chime in elsewhere that morality isn't an issue in public policy..or will give the standard post-modern, "there is no good and evil" are the first people to call corporations evil.
Bingo! Interesting thing about Finch is that he won Best Actor for the role in Network, but he died two months before the Academy Awards. He is the only actor to ever win the Best Actor oscar posthumously. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002075/bio
My point with "are corporations evil" was to illustrate that my belief that corporations in and of themselves are not bad thngs. It's the peole who run bad corporations who are bad. Sometimes they are just incompitent; other times they are evil (i.e. greedy, selfish, etc..). I think sending the boys from Enron and that guy from Worldcom to jail will go a long ways towards ensuring that the peopel who wish to use corporatons to perpetuate evil deeds will think twice. Before, you fined the company which really did nothing to the people who made the bad decisions. If those people face very real jail sentences than you might find less corruption. Your first point seems to iterate my point that corporations aren't evil; the people who run then are and that corporations give those people more power to perpetuate their evil. But does that make the idea of a corporation evil? With regard to your second point "the persuit of money is the root of all sorts of evil"... I believe the quote is "the love of money is the root of all evil". There is nothing wrong with persuing money (we all do it - it's why 99% of us work); however when that persuit turns to excess greed is where things get ugly.
The very large financial corporation (that's having a bit of trouble these days ) that downsized me after eight years of faithful service is evil.
Is this recent mark? Because if it is, its the first time i've seen a been-just-laid-off post with a smilie???
No! It happend in Oct 03. Best thing that ever happend to me! Got out of a dead end job Got a better job. Cashed in my company stock and bought a house. It's all good
I agree that its difficult even non-sensical to call corporations evil. They are a legalistic concept neither inherently evil or good. At the same time I think its too easy to blame any evil that may have been done through a corporation purely on the people running that corporation. What this is about is power and the ability of a corporation, or any other tool, to endow someone with inordinate power. As the saying goes "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The problem with giving someone power is whether they can avoid the temptation to use that power irresponsibly. So as in guns while its true that its a person who pulls the trigger its the gun that gives them the power to easily kill. Is the gun at fault? No because it is an inanimate object with no decision making power of its own but when put into the hands of someone with little self-control it greatly increases the power and propensity to harm others. In the case of a corporation nothing about the corporate structure of even Enron or Union Carbide is evil but the power they give to a few corporate officers makes it more likely that they will act in an evil way. Another problem with corporations is that they are also designed to limit accountability. So while the actions of a corporation maybe considered immoral and uncompassionate the corporate structure protects the owners and decision makers to a large extent. So individually the Ford executives wouldn't want to put people at risk in horrible fires the corporate structure and drive to maximize profits compels them to do such and gives them some moral cover since it isn't them but the Ford Motor Company liable. Like in the example of Hitler's Germany where you have a whole country of people acting or tacitly supporting evil actions which they wouldn't have considered individually but as part of the larger organizatin of Nazi Germany this was accepted and even encouraged. I believe Hannah Arendt called this "the blandness of evil." where by subsuming individuals into a larger group structure evil can be considered the norm. What else is a corporation but a group structure that individual owners subsume themselves for tax and liability purposes.
This view would seem to me to fit better with a Jewish view but didn't Christ redeem humanity from original sin? For that matter doesn't the New Testament teach that we should hate the sin but love the sinner? That would seem to favor a liberal view that accepts that all men are good and possible of salvation and that it is surroundings or conditions that corrupt them. Further if I believe that I am my brothers keeper why wouldn't I want a government that expresses that view through social welfare and regulation?
created because, without them, few would take the risk of going into business. there's a good public policy behind that. unless you believe creating wealth in an economy/society is a bad thing. an evil thing.
Corporations mainly provide goods and services that people want in a very efficient manner. They also hire people and give good benefits. Yes, people in power can commit evil. And so can the broke gangbanger living in the projects. We should be asking if government is evil. I haven't seen corporations commit mass murder and take away the rights of people.
No. Christianity absolutely teaches original sin. The concept that humanity NEEDED a savior...and still does. Collectively and individually. Christ was, is, continues to be that savior in Christianity..obviously. Christ talked about "who is good? who is good but God?" Yes...we should hate sin but love sinner, according to Christian theology....because that's the model we have in Christ. Yes. As a Christian you might favor the notion of social welfare through government programs. Many Christians do. Some say that those are the goals but disagree with the notion that the government is the best place to do that. I'm not engaging that debate...just reporting.
an excellent point. men like Jefferson called government but a "necessary evil," borrowing from other philosophers like Locke. corporations have been involved in governments committing those evils though. since we're talking theology...Christian theology talks about "the World." not the created order...but human systems. it talks about how the World hates what is right...rejects God. there is place for redemption, no doubt. but it wouldn't surprise a Christian theologian to know that these systems are tainted with greed, excees, evil, whatever as a result of sin (separation from God).
As an one of the owners of a small corporate entity myself along with a share holder in a few corporations I don't think they're an evil thing and if you reread my post I never said they were evil and that its nonsensical to call them such. I do think that they can facilitate evil by giving more power and limiting liability among the owners and officers.
