Bill's Bulletin Board
Bill Rea

I attended a talk some years ago in which the speaker pointed out that all through history, it was easy to tell where the power resided.

It was in the hands of those who had the most impressive buildings.

For a time, the power was symbolized by the palaces and impressive edifices in places like Romes. Then, when the clergy got most of the clout, the churches were the impressive looking places. Then we had that palaces, followed by the impressive structures of government, like the Capitol in Washington or the Peace Tower in Ottawa. For a lot of years, the real eye-catchers of architecture have been the skyscrapers and other buildings belonging to the corporate culture.

The point being that corporations carry an enormous amount of clout these days. That may not be the best news for many people, who believe in the concept of power residing with the people, but it is reality.

That was the main point made in the film The Corporation, which was shown last Wednesday at Nobleton library, the latest in the series of topical films being presented by Arts Society King, in conjunction with the King Township Public Library, the Dufferin Marsh Committee and Cold Creek Forest and Wildlife Area.

It's a pity there weren't more people out. I was among six at the start, and among four who stuck it out to the end. Part of my reward for my perseverance was the honour of helping to stack the chairs at the end.

It was a pity because the film did make some interesting points, even if it managed to duck some broader issues. For example the film, which basically bashed corporations, was distributed by a corporation (Big Picture Media Corporation), created with equipment likely produced by corporations, to be viewed on other pieces of equipment made by corporations, by people, many of whom depend of corporations for their livelihood.

Corporations are not necessarily evil, although some of them have done some evil things. People are not evil either, although some of them have done evil things too.

The film depicted corporations as "monsters trying to devour as much profit as possible at anyone's expense."

They were also likened to something created by Dr. Frankenstein.

It also delved a bit into how corporations got their power. In the United States, at least, they came into strength around the time of the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. Then there was the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited the passage of "any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

That amendment was passed after the Civil War, and was aimed at ensuring the rights of freed slaves, but there were smart corporate lawyers around who used wording to conclude the operations for which they were working were entitled to the same protections.

And that, according to the film, started corporations off on their merry way to exploiting people and doing other bad things.

There are a couple of things I think we have to understand about corporations

For one thing, we have to understand they exist mainly to make money for the people who own them.

Here's the capitalist in me coming out again, but the fact is most of us do what we do for a living because we can make a buck doing it. Some of us, like doctors and lawyers, are trained to do what they do; others, like athletes, find something they're just naturally good at; there are those like me who are lucky enough to find something they really enjoy doing; and others, like members of the clergy, etc., do what they do because they feel a calling. But in all cases, we devote the bulk of our working hours every day to activities that are going to pay us enough money for food, shelter and raising our children, if we have them.

Thus a lot of our activities are geared to maintaining, if not enhancing, our cash flow. That in itself certainly doesn't make us evil. Why then should we think of corporations as evil?

Now some of us go about making money in evil ways, such as robbing banks or dealing drugs, just as there are some corporations that maybe do things they shouldn't.

Are you prepared to answer for the evil done by a murderer? Do you expect all corporations to answer for the evils of some of their number?

Many of you reading this are probably part owners of a corporation (maybe more than one) through the stock and mutual fund markets. I have some shares in mutual funds, both inside and outside my RRSPs. When I put my money into these vehicles, it was in anticipation that there would be some return on the investment, to enhance my income or help see me through retirement.

I don't make these investments to be a nice guy. I expect to get some money out of them. There are plenty of charities around for us who feel like being altruistic, and yes, I make regular contributions to some of them too.

There's also the issue of people being exploited by others.

Corporations have been guilty of that over the years; either internally, by treating employees badly, or on a more global level, taking actions that impact on the political level that lead to people being mistreated.

But exploitation of people is nothing new. It has been going on since people figured out how to communicate with each other. It has happened for two primary reasons; there were people able and willing to exploit and there were people available to be exploited. The motivations behind exploitation varies from case to case, with some being the result of perceived economic necessity, convenience, ignorance, etc. And yes, there are some people who exploit because they are bad.

In my cynical thought for the week, I believe that little reality is never going to change, not as long as some people are more aggressive, smarter, richer or stronger than others.

You could try making rules and passing laws to prevent this stuff, but another fact is the people who are aggressive, smart, rich and strong are also the ones who can find ways around the rules.