...And furthermore (on the evils of corporations):

[Jackpine Radical]

Government is supposed to act in the interest of the greater common good. In our system, governmentrs are supposed to be responsive to the wishes and needs of the governed, while maintaining civil relations with other governments. Governments may indeed be be corrupt, but this is a perversion of their intended nature.

Corporations are a very different sort of animal at their very core.

Milton Friedman used to say, in effect, that the only legitimate goal for a corporation is to make profits for its owners. Any other purpose is, in his view, immoral. Actions for the greater good (e.g. voluntary environmentalism) are immoral unless they increase profits.

And, as we all know, corporations are "persons" for most purposes under the law.

Psychopaths are persons who act without conscience--that is to say, only in their own narrow self-interest. As Robert Hare put it, psychopaths are "intraspecies predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse."

Put these two ideas together. Corporations are expected, mandated, required to be psychopathic--predatory--in their relationship with the other persons in their world.

The times of greatest evil are when governments fall under the sway of psychopaths who twist them away from their intended functions to serve the narrow self-interests of the few. In the old days, the psychopaths tended to be evil individuals, despots and tyrants. These days, they tend to be evil corporations. True, individual psychopaths may appear to be in charge--Bush and Cheney, for example--but these individuals are actually mere tools of the great corporate forces abroad in the world.

It seems to me that the great challenge of our times will be to build adequate firewalls to protect governments from the currently prevalent form of psychopath, namely, the corporation.

[pinto]

1. I don't think corps are inherently evil. See your point, and agree on government regulation,

yet a blanket condemnation of corporations is just that. A blanket condemnation. I don't think absolutism works in the the real world - it's not black and white, cut and dried.

Just my two cents.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. My point is that corporations are REQUIRED to act only for the interests

of the owners. A CEO of a publicly held corporation who puts other interests ahead of corporate profits can be sued by the shareholders.

[Double T]

3. Corporations are evil because they have no conscience and breed......

corruption. Management psychopaths and their lemming henchmen will commit fraud, conspiracy and even extortion, then attempt to justify their actions and behavior as 'that's business'. Our current WH leaders come from the psychopathic corporate world and are perfect examples of evil, despots and tyrants. The corporate corruption will continue as long as we continue to support it and them. Until K Street is eliminated and influence bribery is outlawed, corporate psychopathy will continue to infiltrate our government from the criminally corrupt corporations.