Presidential Commission on Corporations in American Society

[OneBlueSky]

posted this as a reponse on another thread and, upon re-reading, think it's actually a pretty good idea . . . so thought I'd share it here . . .

what the Democrats should do is build a case around corporations and the family pocketbook . . . it's what people understand and are interested in . . . a smart candidate with balls (no offense, CMB) could announce that s/he will be appointing a Presidential commission to look at the role of corporations in our society and to examine issues such as corporate offshoring, corporate taxes, corporate lobbying, corporate responsibility (to their shareholders, to the public, and to the nation), the role of corporations in foreign policy (particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan), the regulation of corporations (particularly public utilities), and the whole notion of corporate personhood . . . ask the question -- over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again -- "Is a corporation a person?" . . . get people thinking about it . . . embed it in their consciousness!!! . . . and appoint Bill Moyers to chair the commission . . .

[DUreader]

1. It is a Good Idea, but which Candidates Would Go For It?

[OneBlueSky]

4. someone like Kerry could reignite his campaign . . .

if he had the foresight and the courage to take this step, or something similar . . . the undeniable fact is that this country is going to have to address the role of corporations in society sooner or later, and whoever introduces the issue into the political discourse will be seen as a visionary when that day comes . . . and it's probably not far off . . .

[Pobeka]

2. Corporations are not the problem -- greedy executives are the problem.

Most Americans work for a corporation. We need to distinguish between the CEO's and executive mgmt of these organizations and the "regular" people at the bottom of the corps who don't get to call the shots and will be the ones who get the shaft if we don't get the true problem well identified and called out on the carpet.

[OneBlueSky]

3. for all intents and purposes, corporations ARE . . .

those greedy executives . . . they're the ones who make all the decisions and call all the shots . . . the "regular" people at the bottom are no more than expenses to these executives, expenses that they'd just as soon reduce by shipping the jobs elsewhere . . . and corporations themselves are indeed a huge part of the problem as long as they are legally considered to be persons . . . which they most assuredly are not . . .

[lostnfound]

5. OneBlueSky is right; corporate structure encourages greed..

"greedy executives" will always exist because greedy people will always exist. But the corporate structure is like a virus that eats its way through life saying "make money, make money, make money..."

Government regulation (anti-trust and pro-human) is one way to keep the monsters in check and serving society, instead of just being served by society.

Many of our founding fathers knew the danger of corporate structure and put restraints in place against it.

[Pobeka]

6. I agree with that, but I think the emphasis on greed is important

But I think most people don't get the connection. The concept of a corporation isn't inherently a bad thing. It's the lack of regulations (or enforcement) by the goverment, and lack of ethics by the greedy management of corporations that create a situation where greed becomes the master to be served at the expense of employment for more "worker-bees", consumers are ripped off and the environment gets token words spoken only to appease the ill-informed populace.