Any sufficiently large corporation is indistinguishable from government. A government has a monopoly on violence. No corporation can have a monopoly on violence without becoming a government, in which case it isn't a corporation anymore. What you're saying is definitionally wrong.
Put a huge windfall profits tax on the oil companies - guess who will pay for it - you do. More than that... if you want to teach companies not to invest for the future... if you want to ensure that they keep a short-term focus... tax their "excess" profits.
What have you been smoking? Must be some good shit. Nobody thinks that capitalism caused the Great Depression. The Fed caused the Great Depression, and then made it worse by tightening up the money supply.
But don't let me change your mind. You go on living in a fantasy world where communists don't end up having to kill a minority of their population to get their communism to work.
The only thing worse than ignorance is stupid ignorance. Children worked in mines because children always worked. Idle children is an invention of unfettered capitalism. Pollution is a stage that developing societies go through. Once you get up to a per-capita income of about $10K, people start to reduce pollution. Unions only help union members, and they do it by restricting employment. Women get paid less than men even if they're doing the same job because (if you hadn't noticed) women get pregnant and either need time off, or simply quit.
Make sure that the powerful entities are competing against each other. Then, what tips the matter is the small but tangible amount of power exerted by the less powerful.
Why should corporations look further than just "what have you done for me today"? Customers ask "what have you done for me today" every day. And if the answer is "nothing" then they go elsewhere.
That is 100% as it should be. Because the next step after chaining down the corporations is to chain down the customers. You don't think that happens? Just try to drill your own well rather than buying water from the town. Just try to employ your own trash disposal company rather than the one your town has blessed, or start a trash disposal company which takes its trash anywhere other than the landfill which your town / county has blessed.
Geez. Oak is a moron. Corporate entities are accountable to the citizenry most when markets are free, and yet he's calling for less free markets. Did somebody buy him the special shoes with the targets drawn on the uppersoles?
Right, and because of that, Chinese companies are starting to realize that their brand name is "Chinese", and that their brand is no better than the worse of their competitors. Expect more Chinese companies to start pushing their brand names, as a way of standing behind the quality of their products.
Legislation has nothing to do with the law that people don't buy products with a bad reputation when products with a good reputation are available for the same price.
Corporations ARE accountable, silly! Customers control corporations in a free market society. If a corporation doesn't keep its customers happy, they bail and the corporation runs out of money. For example I point you to Arthur Andersen. They weren't convicted of any wrong-doing, just accused of it. But who is going to choose an accounting firm if they've even been *accused* of wrong-doing? Nobody, so no more Arthur Andersen. If you want more examples, just look at the companies listed in the Dow Jones fifty years ago. Or look at the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central. They *both* went bankrupt, along with many other Class I railroads (e.g. the New York Ontario & Western).
Large numbers of layoffs What the fuck are you talking about? April 2007 unemployment: 4.73M, March 2008 unemployment: 4.49M, April 2008 unemployment: 4.68M
Not to mention that the incumbents don't do a really great job with 911. We've been paying extra for E911 for years, and it still doesn't work. And then there's all the horror stories about busy signals. That's not the carrier's fault, of course, but it points to 911 not being as critical as people say.
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"Corporations and people are both self-interested" But governments are never self-interested??
Ever heard the phrase "killing the goose that laid the golden eggs"? Do you understand what it means?
What have you been smoking? Must be some good shit. Nobody thinks that capitalism caused the Great Depression. The Fed caused the Great Depression, and then made it worse by tightening up the money supply.
But don't let me change your mind. You go on living in a fantasy world where communists don't end up having to kill a minority of their population to get their communism to work.
That, in a nutshell, is why I am a foe of democracy.
Mmmmmmm, the Road to Serfdom argues otherwise.
The only thing worse than ignorance is stupid ignorance. Children worked in mines because children always worked. Idle children is an invention of unfettered capitalism. Pollution is a stage that developing societies go through. Once you get up to a per-capita income of about $10K, people start to reduce pollution. Unions only help union members, and they do it by restricting employment. Women get paid less than men even if they're doing the same job because (if you hadn't noticed) women get pregnant and either need time off, or simply quit.
Fascists don't support free markets. Fascists support corporations. It's mercantilism writ larve.
Corporations are already responsible to the citizens. Don't like a corporation? Don't buy from them. Works a heck of a lot better than voting.
Make sure that the powerful entities are competing against each other. Then, what tips the matter is the small but tangible amount of power exerted by the less powerful.
Why should corporations look further than just "what have you done for me today"? Customers ask "what have you done for me today" every day. And if the answer is "nothing" then they go elsewhere.
That is 100% as it should be. Because the next step after chaining down the corporations is to chain down the customers. You don't think that happens? Just try to drill your own well rather than buying water from the town. Just try to employ your own trash disposal company rather than the one your town has blessed, or start a trash disposal company which takes its trash anywhere other than the landfill which your town / county has blessed.
Enron ... but keep on spewing nonsense ... it's amusing!
Note: corporations do not act. Only people can take action.
Geez. Oak is a moron. Corporate entities are accountable to the citizenry most when markets are free, and yet he's calling for less free markets. Did somebody buy him the special shoes with the targets drawn on the uppersoles?
Right, and because of that, Chinese companies are starting to realize that their brand name is "Chinese", and that their brand is no better than the worse of their competitors. Expect more Chinese companies to start pushing their brand names, as a way of standing behind the quality of their products.
Legislation has nothing to do with the law that people don't buy products with a bad reputation when products with a good reputation are available for the same price.
Corporations ARE accountable, silly! Customers control corporations in a free market society. If a corporation doesn't keep its customers happy, they bail and the corporation runs out of money. For example I point you to Arthur Andersen. They weren't convicted of any wrong-doing, just accused of it. But who is going to choose an accounting firm if they've even been *accused* of wrong-doing? Nobody, so no more Arthur Andersen. If you want more examples, just look at the companies listed in the Dow Jones fifty years ago. Or look at the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central. They *both* went bankrupt, along with many other Class I railroads (e.g. the New York Ontario & Western).
Errrr, no, free market capitalism isn't fascism.
Yes, this is fascism.
Over in the Unix world, we call them newlines.
What large numbers of layoffs?
Not to mention that the incumbents don't do a really great job with 911. We've been paying extra for E911 for years, and it still doesn't work. And then there's all the horror stories about busy signals. That's not the carrier's fault, of course, but it points to 911 not being as critical as people say.
Uhhhhhh, Pink Floyd already owns the Dark Side of the Moon.
There is no shortage of people to predict failure for any venture.
Sure! Everything that's not affordable when you have to pay taxes to the man.