Fortune in the Hands of the People

"By the end of the nineteenth century... courts had fully transformed the corporation into a "person," with its own identity. The logic was that, conceived as natural entities analogous to human beings, corporations should be created as free individuals" (pp. 16). This entry in "The Corporation" is peculiar in that what is highlighted throughout the reading so far is how "evil" a corporation is. How the corporation brings out the blood-hounding, conniving, wicked qualities of humans. The real question then is: why? Why does the corporation embody a savage character yet is thought to be representative of human logic?

I agree with the courts in that the corporation should be treated as a "person". The corporation is built up from human needs, and thus need to abide by like laws. However, somewhere in the shuffle the corporation has evolved into a whiteboard; an outlet for the combined forces of human greed. The corporation has developed into a power greater than it's parts combined, which is why it needs to be treated and tried as an individual. With the outcome of people working for it leading to a new more powerful being, there needs to be a leash on this pit-bull.

The corporation without bounds is wild in character. "The corporation is irresponsible... Corporations try to 'manipulate everything, including public opinion,' and they are grandiose, always insisting 'that we're number one, we're the best" (pp 57). The corporation is having too much fun. Fed power through money, the corporation manipulates all peoples under it who lust for this fortune. The hierarchy pyramid needs to be knocked down and the pieces placed back into the humble hands of the constitute parts; the real individuals: the people.