| A CORPORATION has no soul, no morals. It cannot feel love or pain or
remorse. You cannot argue with it. A corporation is nothing but a process - an
efficient way of generating revenue. We demonize corporations for their unwavering pursuit of growth, power and wealth. Yet let's face it: they are simply carrying out genetic orders. This is exactly what corporations were designed - by us - to do. Trying to rehabilitate a corporation, urging it to behave responsibly, is a fool's game. The only way to change the behavior of a corporation is to recode it; rewrite its charter; reprogram it. |
Our consumer culture is absurd. We buy to feel good, we buy to impress each other. Our consumer culture is greedy. We in the affluent west - only 20% of the world's population - consume 80% of the natural resources. Our consumer culture is tragic. As a result of our consumption, nature is dying.
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One must wonder why U.S. taxpayers subsidize the multibillion-dollar dairy industry. This is the same industry that runs sophisticated multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns. I'm glad to know that I work to put money into the pockets of NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX - after all, they sure need it. And let's not forget about all those starving people who work at ad agencies. But enough sarcasm. This blatant corporate welfare must end. Join Common Cause today. It has taken me years to de-program myself from the barrage of pro-dairy advertising which started at an early age while watching Saturday morning cartoons. Today I know that while milk may do a body good, it also does a lot of harm to cows. Contrary to the U.S. council on nutrition, dairy isn't a necessary food group. Rice milk tastes just fine and has more vitamins and less fat than milk. If you haven't tried it you can pick it up at Trader Joe's.
Last year, the dairy council performed a study for the U.S. congress on (U.S.) children's nutrition. What do you think their findings were? Kids should eat more cheese and yogurt. Do you think there is a conflict of interest here?
A few private dairy farms are still in operation. Many take excellent care of their herds, because it's in their best interest to do so. However, corporate-owned dairy farms have already put most private diary farmers out of business. Corporations are only interested in money, and if you want to support private and humane farmers, don't buy dairy products from corporations. Good luck trying to find dairy products that are labeled "humane."
Living in the artifical bubble in the Silicon Valley, it's easy to lose sight of the real thieves and scoundrels, especially since they dress so nice, eat such good food, drink such good wine, and drive such nice cars. There is a silent war being waged on the middle class and the poor around the world that goes by the euphemism of "competitiveness in a global economy." Translated, this means the workers get crumbs and the stockholders get the rest.
Read this report from Michael Moore which
describes Ford's recent closure of a Buick plant in Flint, Michigan. The plant is
moving to Mexico.
Since we don't have the time or other resources to protest, and I'm sure none of you approve of this trend, we need to support those who do, such as Michael Moore. At least take a look at what he's doing, because if anything, his show is entertaining. You won't believe what he tries to get away with. Michael Moore has no fear, because above all else, he's a nice guy. If you have cable and don't get Bravo, send a nasty letter to your cable operator and cc: bravo. Unless you stomp your feet and make an ass of yourself, you will be ignored, just like the auto workers and most of us who give a damn.
Need I say more about buying "American made." It's a sham. South America and the rest of the third world is being held down by the World Bank for what purpose... so Ford can pay Mexican workers 80 cents a day, making a record profit selling Buicks to the richest 20% of the population. When Ford needs a stock boost, they can just move their plants to India, or Russia, or ... hungry people will work for anything. Keep them hungry, pay them nothing, murder their leaders, train their "police", and bomb them every once in a while for good measure. That is the foreign policy of the "first" world as in "we're number one! we're number one." Today's leader of this club is Bill Clinton, but tomorrow, it will be some other blow-up doll that has sold his soul to keep his children alive.
"Free speech is subverted by lawsuits seeking to protect economic interests at the expense of frank public discussion concerning serious public health issues."
Your first impulse might be to hate lawyers -- but the blame instead falls on corporations and their stockholders. Real hard-working American family farmers don't have the time to go suing everyone in sight. The mythical independent American farmer/rancher is but a grain on the sandy shores of corporate-controlled America.
Corporations have a stranglehold on information, resources, speech, thought ("Just do it!"), politics, across the globe. What can we do to rid ourselves of our corporate masters? Don't we all want a job and nice "stuff"? It's a difficult problem. Perhaps we can coexist with corporations but perhaps they have an excessive amount of legal rights, privileges, tax breaks, and money.
If we spent time with our children instead of buying them things and driving them around the suburbs, perhaps we wouldn't have to work so much. Corporations resist this sort of thinking. The television tells our children that they won't be happy until they have some plastic toys painted by Chinese slave labor. Resistance may be futile, yet resistance - consuming less - is the only option.
We also need to kick and scream a lot more, and I'm not talking about bombing federal buildings. For instance, the downtrodden CEOs of Sun and Oracle kicked and screamed and look what happened to Microsoft... But maybe that isn't a good example... Yeah, Microsoft is in court while AT&T, Mobil, Exxon, TCI, etc. are all merging into one humongous entity. Thanks, guys! McNealy and Ellison, you guys are losers! I hope Microsoft decimates your rich white Silicon Valley Porche Driving Personal Jet Flying Yacht Racing asses.
| Half the stocks in 1997 were owned by the wealthiest 1 percent of households, and almost 90 percent by the wealthiest tenth .. The enthusiasm about the radical asset inflation of recent years is understandable, considering which voices are heard, sometimes believed. And effective control of the corporation lies in very few institutional and personal hands, with the backing of law, after a century of judicial activism. |
Noam Chomsky, "Domestic Constituencies", Z Magazine, May 1998, p. 24 |
I love corporations. By buying their stock I may actually be able to enjoy a retirement. As long as the billionaire CEOs don't suck the economy dry I should be set for life, as long as I work during most of it.
You could say that buying stock is just encouraging corporate greed and I guess you'd be right. But the money is there for the taking. I don't want to work forever and nobody else should either. Take the cash and build a shelter for battered women. Or support local artists. This is the only way to beat them at their own game.
Downsized? Bet you're glad you have that portfolio to fall back on! The stock market never crashes, right?
Microsoft finally got it. After absorbing attacks from the Department of Justice, Microsoft finally realized who they are dealing with. Quoting the July 1998 pro-Microsoft journal, "Directions On Microsoft Update", Redmond Communications Inc., Redmond, WA.:
Microsoft is making up for lost time in handing out money for political contributions. Microsoft gave $100,000 to the Republican National Committee in April, a month after the company donated computer equipment valued at $99,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Including the latest contribution, Microsoft has given almost $4000,000 to both political parties between Jan. 1, 1997, and Apr. 30, 1998 - more money than it gave in the previous six years combined.
It's no mystery why Rupert Murdoch, Bank Of America, etc. are on good terms with the feds. The mergers and monopolies of generous political contributors go uncontested.
Corporations entice the wealthy (AKA "middle class") to consume, consume, consume. Supplying an ever-increasing plethora of products, most of which are frivolous and toxic, corporations irreparably harm the planet as natural resources dwindle to nothing (where did all the mahogany wood go?). On the other hand, those without the means to purchase a plush Barney toy or a Mercedes Benz hardly leave a mark at all. Since they can't over-consume, this group of people (numbering billions - the majority by far) don't matter as far as Disney, Westinghouse, Toyota, Microsoft, Compaq, etc. are concerned. In fact, there is great pressure placed on this group to not reproduce, what with all the rampant "overpopulation" etc.. Meanwhile the wealthy (those have access to the supply pipeline) are encouraged to have their "fair share" of babies - after all, it is their "right." But only because having a child represents enormous purchasing obligations for a period of roughly 20 years .. indeed, for a lifetime.
California, USA - Recently the Bay Area Air Quality Board issued a plea to consumers to buy electric vehicles. It seems the automobile makers are all too happy to produce Eves, but if nobody buys them, well, shucks, they'll just have to stop.
The auto industry should be lucky enough to sell electric vehicles. Because if it were up to me, there wouldn't be any more cars.
Electric vehicles aren't the answer to our dwindling quality of life. Electricity is generated from a variety of sources, but fossil fuels provide the majority of power. Electric vehicles won't reduce emissions of greenhouse gases - in fact, they will probably have the opposite effect. Power companies have a hard enough time meeting demand as it is. When car owners start plugging in their cars, watch the lights go out! I'll just briefly mention the endless list of toxic and non-recyclable materials found in electric and gasoline cars. I'll even more briefly mention the pillaging of the environment needed to sustain the automotive industry, in terms of raw materials and land forever lost to roads and highways. I won't even get into the dangers that cars pose to pedestrians, bicyclists, animals, and to the passengers themselves, or the obscene, endless amounts of noise pollution spewing from our roadways. Also consider the enormous personal expense required to purchase and maintain several cars over one's lifetime. If that weren't enough, just witness the ridiculous grid-lock plaguing every urban area at "rush hour", which is actually three consecutive hours twice daily.
Let's start thinking about the big picture. Detroit and media-land obviously don't want you to. The electric vehicle mantra only serves the automotive industry. The answer is not more cars. We need reliable, affordable, dignified public transportation. Let somebody get rich off that.
I am quite aware that the automobile suits the American lifestyle. Cars and the American Way are so intertwined that it is almost impossible to think about them separately. Automobiles are synonymous with freedom - the ability to go where ever I want, whenever I want; to live wherever I want, even if it means I have to commute 10 hours a day. It's obvious that the automobile influenced every city and town planning commission in the United States. Banks, land owners (primarily railroads), housing contractors, and infrastructure industries greedily benefited from spreading millions of Americans across the country with promises of large homes, large yards, and endless skies. Today, communities such as Clovis, California; Bellevue, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Phoenix, Arizona are experiencing unprecedented sprawl ("growth", as Wall Street puts it), thanks not only to the highways, but also to the aqueducts that dried the wetlands and drenched the deserts. The growth of many upscale neighborhoods across the country continues after the urban flight of the 50's, 60's, and 70's, leaving behind even more areas of older, impoverished, and ultimately dangerous neighborhoods. All made possible by the sport utility vehicle in the garage.
The clock is ticking. At the current rate of consumption, there won't be any more petrol by the year 2050. Even after switching to a new energy source, it's likely that there will be more cars than the pavement can handle. There also won't be many wild animals besides some species of birds. There's likely to be no water left in the aquifers, leaving the population dangerously dependent upon seasonal rain and snowfalls. And, thanks to the inefficient use of land, cities will be so spread out that: (a) land will be harder and harder to come by, either for housing, agriculture, or wildlife, and (b) it will be nearly impossible to get anywhere without a car, but thanks to gridlock, it will be harder and harder to get anywhere. All while diminishing our sense of community. At what price will we put an end to this insanity?
Whenever I watch, listen to, or read the news, I am astounded by the profound lack of thought in the "news product." There are very few facts and even fewer opinions. There is, however, lots of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). "How long do you think the market will continue to rise?" they ask. "What's in store for the next big storm?" "What did the president really do?" "Will we ever know the truth?"
Gee, I can't wait to find out! I think I'll just tune in at eleven and listen to you tell me the answer! But the answers never come. Just more FUD.
The victors of the past wrote history. But today's winners write the news instead. Multinational corporations own most of the channels from which up-to-minute sewage flows onto newsstands, the airwaves, and the Internet. "Tech stocks are up!" "Tech stocks are down." "Let's see how many people were murdered last night!"
The next time you watch the news or a "news magazine," you should wonder why a corporation is spending millions of dollars to bring it to you. The answer is, of course, advertiser dollars. So the news isn't intended to be information - it's just what comes between the advertisements. Sex sells, but FUD gets the audience.