The Corporation Page #4

The problem comes in in

the profit motivation here

because these people

there's no such

thing as enough.

And I always

counterpoint out

there's no organization

on this planet

that can neglect

its economic foundation.

Even someone living under

a banyan tree is dependent

on support from someone.

Economic leg has to be

addressed by everyone.

It's not just

a business issue.

But unlike someone

under a banyan tree

all publicly

traded corporations

has been structured

through a series

of legal decisions

to have a peculiar and

disturbing characteristic.

They are required

by law

to place the financial

interests of their owners

above competing interests.

In fact the corporation

is legally bound

to put its bottom line

ahead of everything else

even the public good.

That's not

a law of nature

that's a very

specific decision.

In fact

a judicial decision.

So they're concerned only

for the short term profit

of their stockholders who are

very highly concentrated.

To whom do these

companies owe loyalty?

What does loyalty mean?

Well it turns

out that

that was a rather

naive concept anyways

as corporations are

always owed obligation

to themselves to get large

and to get profitable.

In doing this

it tends to be more

profitable to the extent

it can make other

people pay for the bills

for its impact

on society.

There's a terrible word that

economists use for this

called externalities.

An externality is the effect

of a transaction

between two individuals.

Third party who

has not consented to

or played any role

in the carrying out

of that transaction

And there are real

problems in that area.

There's no

doubt about it.

Running a business is

a tough proposition.

There are costs to be

minimized at every turn

and at some point

the corporation says

you know let somebody

else deal with that.

Let's let somebody else

supply the military power

to the middle east to protect

the oil at its source.

Let's let somebody else build

the roads that we can drive

these automobiles on.

Let's let somebody

else have those problems

And that is where

externalities come from

that notion of let somebody

else deal with that.

I got all I can

handle myself.

A corporation is an

externalizing machine

in the same way that a shark

is a killing machine.

Each one is designed

in a very efficient way

to accomplish

particular objectives.

In the achievement

of those objectives

there isn't any question

of malevolence or of will.

The enterprise

has within it

and the shark

has within it

those characteristics that

enable it to do that

for which it was designed.

The pressure is

on the corporation

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes