Are corporations the new empires of the day?

[OddBeMe]

Then why do we protect them?

Yes2

No

[dynamicyandere]

Pretty much.


I see the United States and much of the world as a Plutocracy. It’s the wealthy who are really in charge. They even have sway over politicians, presidents, and prime ministers.


But just like kingdoms of old, not all of them are bad.


There are good kings, evil kings, and everything in between.


It’s the same with big businesses.


I wouldn’t call Steve Jobs evil just because he was wealthy from inventing iOS, and building Macintosh and Apple.


He made money for good reason — his products have helped so many people across the world.


Elon Musk invented the most energy-efficient electric cars that are available. He’s rich, but I wouldn’t say he’s evil.


Now when we get into things like Mark Zuckerberg or Big Pharma, that’s when things begin to get more dicey.


There are good people in power, bad people in power, and everyone in between.


I say that we evaluate emperors, kings, queens, and CEOs by how they run their operations and how they conduct their lives.


Judge them as individual people or as individual entities.


Otherwise, it’s no better than saying government = bad. Anarchy isn’t good either. Just take a look at the cartel-controlled territories of Central America or war-torn Liberia.


It’s a matter of recognizing who’s in power, and supporting those who wield it well. (Or, if you’re ambitious, becoming powerful and influential yourself, so you can impact the world positively in your own way.)

[OddBeMe]

We are the land the of the free!
Home of the brave!

How dare you sir!
How dare you?

[dynamicyandere]

Lol, land of the free…

Fine Text: If you have enough money.*

[OddBeMe]

How dare you- (empty wallet flies away).

[OddBeMe]

I love how all of Melania’s family entered America. Talk about anchor baby. Lol

[dynamicyandere]

Lol, for real.

[RavVid]

Do we want companies to be like the East India Company which conquered India (and where Wellington got his start)?

Do we want them protecting their IP from theft with their own gunboats?

Perhaps protecting them is better for world peace than the corps declaring war against each other.

[exitseven]

Yes, but they can fail. Did anyone ever think they would see General Motors fail? How about Sears Roebuck? How about the NY Times? These institutions are all in danger of going out of business.

[Anonymous]

Remember when a corporation conquered an entire country?

I believe America to be an oligarchy rather than democracy, we pretend we are a democracy.

[Friendlybro79]

We don't protect them politicians protect them because they're bought and paid by corporations legally unfortunately.

[OddBeMe]

How do pols protect them?

[Friendlybro79]

Pardon my bad grammar. Politicians protect corporations and all super pac donors for that matter by doing their bidding. They receive large donations in return for favors that benefit the donors. Hence keeping min wage down, low corporate taxes, tax laws in general that allow the rich to barely pay any taxes at all and burden the rest of us to cover it all.

[Friendlybro79]

This protects them from having to pay their fair share like the rest of us.

[OddBeMe]

Well you’re right on the money. And America has essentially legalized bribery. We could take care of it but guns gays and immigrants are more important..

[Friendlybro79]

Agreed and it's sad.

[msc545]

To soke extent yes, particularly if they control the governemnrt as they do in the US.

[jshm2]

You've never heard of the East India Company then, sunny.