What I learned about the way the world works in 2009:
- Corporations are considered “persons” in the eyes of government, just not as accountable as “real persons”.
- Accountability is not the same thing as responsibility. (This may have been in early 2010.)
- Common people really DO have voices, they just come in the form of paper with numbers on them.
In the developed countries, corporations have the same rights as people. They don’t however have the same responsibilities. This means that when a corporation like Massey Energy spills coal slurry into the waterways of Kentucky and West Virginia, damage estimated at $2.4 billion by the E.P.A., and somehow are only required to pay $20 million, there’s a responsibility that should have fallen heavier upon Massey’s shoulders, yet doesn’t.
It’s my belief that if any criminal has access to thousands of brains and billions of dollars behind them, they can get away with just about anything.
As a general rule, we don’t ask corporations to be responsible. We ask them to be accountable. Who are they accountable to? Stockholders, vice presidents, CEO’s, people who aren’t looking out for the greater good most of the time. They’re too busy looking at stock performance and yacht catalogs. To be a responsible corporation, it would have to consider the well-being of those at the tail-end of the corporation’s activities. McDonald’s doesn’t worry about what happens when they buy a piece of land in Brazil only to clear cut it and graze cattle. If they did, there wouldn’t be a McDonald’s on every corner selling burgers for $1.29.
The most important thing to remember is that corporations, unlike people, can be killed without anyone going to jail for murder. To kill a corporation only requires all of us to stop supporting it. The idea that no other company can do what that corporation did is silly. When one giant filling a niche falls, hundreds of smaller entities take its place. This not only benefits local economies but also allows for these new companies to be held responsible for their actions.
Our dollars matter. Here at the farm, our purchasing decisions usually are preceded with the questions:
- Who was affected by the creation of this?
- Can we get something less-toxic?
- How long will it last?
- Can we get it second-hand?
- Where does this dollar go?
Tristan’s family has lived by these values for a long time. My family hasn’t. It’s been an eye-opening learning curve for me. But I know that my future family will live by these values. I hope yours will, too.
Oh! And join this campaign! www.moveyourmoney.info
The best way to keep big banks from loaning money to corporations is to move your money into local, cooperative or community banks.
-illona