The Rise of Corporations

The Rise of the Corporation

• 150 years ago, corporations were relatively insignificant.
• Today, corporations are dominant, similar to historical institutions like the church or monarchy.
• The documentary explores the corporation's nature, evolution, impacts, and potential futures.
• Early corporations had narrow legal mandates, raising the question of how they gained such power.
• Scandals have sparked debate about the lack of public control over corporations.
• The media has reduced the debate to identifying "bad apples" within the corporate world.
• Some argue the issues are more systemic than just a few bad actors.
• The corporation is presented as a paradox: creating wealth but also causing harm.

Metaphors for the Corporation

• Corporations are described as part of a jigsaw, incomplete without them but problematic as the only piece.
• Other metaphors include a sports team working towards a common goal, or a family unit.
• Corporations are likened to the telephone system: powerful, pervasive, and transformative.
• An idealized view compares corporations to eagles: noble, visionary, and inspiring.
• A darker perspective views corporations as monsters driven by profit at any cost.
• Other comparisons include a whale that could swallow you, or Dr. Frankenstein's creation overwhelming its creator.
• The term "corporate agenda" is often used negatively, implying a world takeover attempt.
• Some prefer terms like "business" or "business community" to avoid the negative connotations.

Defining the Corporation

• A corporation is a form of business ownership.
• It's a group working together to achieve objectives, primarily growing legal returns for owners.
• The modern corporation evolved from the Industrial Age, emphasizing productivity.
• Early corporations were associations chartered by the state for specific functions.
• These corporations had clear stipulations in their charters, including operational limits and shareholder liability.
• Corporations were once viewed as subordinate entities serving the public good.

The Corporation Gains Power

• The Civil War and Industrial Revolution led to corporate growth in railroads, banking, and manufacturing.
• Corporate lawyers sought to remove constraints on the corporate form.
• The 14th Amendment, intended for equal rights for Black people, was used by corporations to gain rights.
• Corporations argued they were "persons" under the 14th Amendment, gaining legal protections.
• This meant that between 1890 and 1910, out of 307 cases brought before the court under the 14th Amendment, 288 were brought by corporations and 19 by African Americans.
• Incorporation provides limited liability, protecting personal assets from business debts.
• A corporation operates legally as an individual person, distinct from its members.
• Corporations can buy, sell, borrow, sue, and be sued, functioning as legal persons.

The Corporation as a "Person"

• Corporations have the rights of immortal persons but lack moral conscience.
• They are designed to prioritize stockholders' financial interests over other stakeholders.
• Corporations are not like individuals; they have no soul to save or body to incarcerate.
• Corporations are primarily driven by the bottom line: maximizing profit in each quarter.
• Profit-making is seen as the incentive that drives capitalism and provides needed goods.
• Businesses claim to consider the environment and be constructive members of society.
• Some argue there's no such thing as "enough" profit for corporations.
• Every organization, including those outside business, needs to address economic foundations.

Prioritizing Profit

• Publicly traded corporations are legally required to prioritize owners' financial interests.
• Corporations are legally bound to put their bottom line ahead of everything else, even the public good.
• This is not a natural law but a judicial decision, focusing on short-term profit for stockholders.
• Corporations are obligated to grow and be profitable, sometimes at the expense of others.
• Externalities: Corporations try to make other people pay the bills for their impact on society.
• Externalities are the effect of a transaction between two individuals on a third party who has not consented to or played any role in the carrying out of that transaction.
• Corporations aim to minimize costs and externalize problems onto others.

The Corporation as an Externalizing Machine

• Corporations are externalizing machines, similar to sharks as killing machines.
• This isn't about malevolence; it's about the design to achieve specific objectives.
• Corporations are pressured to deliver results now and externalize costs whenever possible.

The Corporation's Personality

• The corporation's behavior can be analyzed like a psychiatrist would analyze a patient.
• Case histories reveal harm inflicted on others due to corporate activities.

Labor Exploitation

• Garment workers are paid cents for items sold for much higher prices.
• Some workers earn only 31 cents an hour making car stereos.
• Factories often have harsh conditions, with spies monitoring worker meetings.
• Workers sometimes secretly provide pay stubs to reveal their low wages and the brands they produce.
• Some products are made by children, despite claims of supporting children's charities.
• In developing countries, low-cost labor is seen as the only valuable offering for some communities.
• Some argue that hiring these workers, even at low wages, rescues them from their circumstances.
• Companies closely monitor and optimize the time allotted for each operation to minimize labor costs.
• Companies move to new areas when wages become "too high," meaning people are no longer desperate.
• Export processing zones offer incentives for companies, but workers rarely earn enough for basic needs.

Chemical Synthesis and its Impact

• 1940 marked the beginning of large-scale chemical synthesis, creating new substances.
• Oil companies rearranged petroleum molecules to create various products, including fabrics, toothbrushes, tires, insecticides, and weed killers.
• This led to the production of new, synthetic chemicals at virtually no cost.

Chemical Hazards and Industry Awareness

• Chemists can create persistent and relatively indestructible chemicals like DDT
• DDT was created by putting two benzene molecules on the blackboard and adding chlorine in places

DDT Usage and Early Warning Signs

• DDT was administered to civilians by native doctors under supervision of the Eighth Army to prevent typhus during occupation
• Petrochemical era growth led to synthetic chemicals which have permeated consumer products, air, and water
• Synthetic chemicals are known to cause cancer, birth defects, and other toxic effects
• Industries were aware of these risks but attempted to trivialize them, documented evidence exists

Monsanto Files and rBGH

• Monsanto files revealed issues with toxicological testing of cows given rBGH
• rBGH, trade name Posilac, is used in over a quarter of U.S. dairy herds
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared rBGH safe for both cows and humans four years prior
• Monsanto falsely claimed there were no adverse effects and that they didn't use antibiotics
• rBGH use led to chronic inflammation, heart, lung, kidney, and reproductive issues in cows
• rBGH results in unnecessary pain, suffering, and distress for cows

Milk Overproduction and Mastitis

• The industrial world is already overproducing milk
• Governments around the world pay farmers not to produce milk
• The artificial hormone rBGH causes problems for cows, including mastitis, udders become infected
• Cows with mastitis produce pus in their milk, increasing the somatic cell count and bacteria

Antibiotic Resistance and Health Risks

• Cows injected with rBGH and antibiotics lead to people consuming antibiotics through food
• This contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and diseases, a crisis where infections can't be cured
• Consumers shouldn't have to take any health risks
• There is a lot of conflicting evidence about health risks

Agent Orange and Corporate Responsibility

• Large areas of Vietnam were deforested using Monsanto's Agent Orange
• Agent Orange caused over 50,000 birth defects and hundreds of thousands of cancers in Vietnamese civilians, soldiers, and former American troops
• U.S. Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange sued Monsanto, settled out of court for $80 million, but Monsanto never admitted guilt

Pollution and Environmental Awareness

• Paper companies pollute rivers by sending effluent, despite residents' concerns
• The river was being polluted, we are creating something that's gonna destroy us
• Traders in the market are focused on dollars and making money, environmental conditions are secondary
• Information received doesn't include environmental conditions unless they become a commodity

Corporate Criminality and Fines

• Multinational Monitor compiled a list of top corporate criminals of the 1990s based on criminal fines paid, there were examples involving exxon, general electric, chevron, mitsubishi, ibm, kodak, pfizer, odwalla, sears, roche and others
• Obeying the law depends on cost-effectiveness, if getting caught is less than the cost of compliance, its a business decision

Civilization's Trajectory and the Biosphere

• Civilization is like a doomed craft heading for a crash due to unsustainable practices
• Every living system and life support system of Earth (the biosphere) is in decline
• The biosphere is important in supporting and nurturing all of life

Corporate Practices and Intergenerational Tyranny

• Typical 20th-century companies are extractive, wasteful, and abusive
• Companies leave a legacy of poisoning and diminishing the environment for future generations, extraction process to produce $1 of revenue is suprising
• Depleting resources is considered intergenerational tyranny and taxation without representation

Corporate Psychopathy and Moral Responsibility

• Corporations can be seen as psychopathic
• A corporation lacks moral opinions and social responsibility, it's an artificial legal structure
• Individuals within corporations (stockholders, executives, employees) still have moral responsibilities
• Humans have the same genes, we're more or less the same, but our nature, the nature of humans, allows all kinds of behavior

CEO Constraints and Layoffs

• CEOs don't have absolute power and can't always prioritize personal values
• Layoff decisions are tough but are the consequence of modern capitalism

Slavery Comparison and Institutional Roles

• Distinguish between the institution and individual, like with slavery, or other forms of tyranny
• Tyrannical institutions are monstrous, but individuals in them may be benevolent

Protests and Corporate Perspectives

• Protesters may target individuals within corporations, but find the core problem is the corporate entity
• A corporation is made up of people, and all have climate, oppressive regimes, human rights troubles

Individual vs. Corporate Responsibility

• CEOs can care about the environment but must balance it with corporate responsibilities

Shell's Practices and Environmental Concerns

• Shell Nigeria flares large amounts of gas, causing significant pollution
• Concerns about the environment don't prevent activists from being harmed for opposing Shell's practices

Corporate Mindset and Terminator Technology

• Corporations don't think, but people in corporations do
• Terminator (suicide gene) technology in seeds is anti-evolutionary, driven by profits
• It's a war against evolution to even think in those terms

Corporate Spying and Market Share

• Individuals engage in corporate spying to gain competitive information, posing as recruiters to debrief competitors' employees, it helps improve market share
• The goal is market share, being aggressive, and increasing shareholder value
• Stockholders want money, regardless of ethics

Diversity and Global Realities

• Companies are run by rich white men out of touch with the majority of the world
• The majority of the planet is not a bunch of rich white guys, decisions are not based in reality

Excessive Wealth and Factory Visits

• There's a question of how much is enough, if you are a billionaire, would it be okay just to be a half a billionaire? Wouldn't it be okay for your company to make a little less money if it meant-
• Nike's Phil Knight had not visited his own factories in Indonesia, despite owning the company

Environmental Consciousness and Commerce

• Interface, a company, began receiving questions from customers about its environmental impact in 1994
• Initially, the company lacked satisfactory answers regarding its environmental efforts
• A task force was created within the research department to assess the company's environmental position and develop responses for customers
• Paul Hawken's book "The Ecology of Commerce" was pivotal, providing inspiration and leading to a significant shift in mindset
• The phrase "the death of birth," coined by E.O. Wilson to describe species extinction, had a profound impact, prompting a reevaluation of business practices
• The central question raised: Can any product be made sustainably?
• Certain products, such as landmines, are deemed fundamentally unsustainable and should not be manufactured at all
• Interface's operations were characterized as exploitative, plundering resources that belong to every creature on Earth
• The realization that such practices should be illegal in the future

Exploitation of Disasters for Profit

• In the wake of the September 11 attacks, some traders immediately considered the potential for financial gain, particularly in the gold market
• The increase in the price of gold following the attacks led to significant profits for clients invested in gold
• The U.S. bombing of Iraq in 1991 caused the price of oil to surge from $13 to $40 a barrel
• Brokers expressed excitement over potential problems and oil well fires caused by Saddam Hussein's actions, anticipating further price increases
• War and devastation were viewed as opportunities for financial gain in these contexts

Enclosure of the Commons

• Historically, there was a time when certain things were considered too sacred or essential for the public good to be treated as business opportunities
• The enclosure movements of the Great European Commons during the 14th-16th centuries marked the beginning of the modern age
• Medieval life involved collective living and responsibility, with people belonging to the land rather than the other way around
• Land was collectively farmed and seen as a commons, administered by the church, aristocracy, and local manors as stewards of God's creation
• Tudor England saw the emergence of parliamentary acts that enclosed the great commons, turning shared land into private property
• This process extended to the oceans, with countries claiming portions of water for exploitation
• In the 20th century, the air was divided into air corridors for commercial traffic, further enclosing common resources

Privatization and Wealth Usurpation

• Deregulation, privatization, and free trade are seen as a modern form of enclosure, involving the private taking of the commons
• Wealth is often defined as something created only when privately owned, overlooking the intrinsic value of clean water, fresh air, and a safe environment
• Wealth usurpation occurs when entities enclose these resources and declare them private property

Public vs. Private Institutions

• Essential services like firefighting have transitioned from private companies to public trusts
• Public institutions may operate at a loss to provide side benefits, such as cheap steel for other industries
• Public institutions can maintain employment during recessions, increasing demand and helping to stabilize the economy
• The privatization of public institutions can lead to unaccountable tyranny, as private companies prioritize profit over public welfare
• Concerns are raised about the potential for everything, including essential services like education, healthcare, and social assistance, to be privately owned
• Preservation of the commons, including water and air, is crucial for collective survival

Commodification of Pollution and Resources

• Efforts have been made to address pollution through mechanisms like the trading of permits for sulphur oxides
• This approach attaches a price to polluting the environment, incentivizing reductions
• The idea of private ownership extending to every square inch of the planet, cubic foot of air, and body of water is explored
• The concept involves entities with a vested interest in maintaining resources owning the interests involved in those resources

Marketing to Children

• AOL Time Warner owns the copyright to "Happy Birthday" and has demanded significant fees for its use in films
• Comparing modern marketing to past marketing is like comparing a BB gun to a smart bomb, due to its sophistication and pervasiveness
• Marketing to children involves manipulating them into buying products
• Western International Media, Century City, and Lieberman Research Worldwide conducted a study in 1998 on nagging to help corporations make kids nag for their products
• Anywhere from 20% to 40% of purchases occur because a child nagged their parents
• Marketers exploit children's developmental vulnerabilities
• Initiative places approximately $12 billion of media time annually, making it one of the largest buyers of advertising space in the world
• Developing a relationship with children when they are young ensures they will be consumers as adults

Consumerism and Corporate Influence

• The corporation provides a social role, defining the "good consumer" as a list of virtues
• Corporations aim to maximize profit and market share by turning the population into mindless consumers
• This involves creating wants, imposing a philosophy of futility, and focusing on insignificant things like fashionable consumption
• The ideal is to have individuals who are totally dissociated from one another, defining their value by how many created wants they can satisfy
• The public relations industry is designed to mold people into this desired pattern from infancy
• Two college students became corporately sponsored by First USA to pay for their college tuition, becoming walking billboards

Perception Management and Corporate Domination

• Corporations are advertising a way of life and a way of thinking, shaping the narrative of who we are as people
• Perception management is a methodology to help clients identify resources, barriers to success, and how to use communications to achieve objectives
• Corporations create an image of themselves as regular folks down the block and foster community ties
• Pfizer representatives engage with residents, emphasizing their role as neighbors and partners in improving the community

Pfizer Security Measures

• A talk-back box facilitates communication with the Pfizer security guard, located approximately 500 yards away.
• The system allows passengers to directly contact the Pfizer desk for assistance, especially during off-hours.
• The Pfizer guard then contacts the transit police to respond to any crime situation.
• These security measures have resulted in a decrease in crime in the station, enhancing safety for community partners.

Corporate Branding and Public Space

• Corporations use taxpayer and shareholder money to help the public while simultaneously lowering taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals.
• Branding has evolved from advertising to production, where successful corporations focus on producing brand meaning rather than just products.
• Disseminating the idea of their brand is a crucial and invasive act of production for these corporations.
• Building a three-dimensional manifestation of a brand, such as Disney's town of Celebration, Florida, is a strategy to make the brand idea real.
• Celebration, Florida, has approximately 5,000 residents and features about 1,300 single-family homes and a town center with restaurants and shops.
• Disney's brand image is centered around the all-American family and a nostalgic American town.
• Their primary brand driver is "family magic," which influences all their business activities.
• Branded environments like Disney World or Disneyland are logical extensions of the "family magic" brand.
• For entertainment that doesn't align with "family magic," Disney uses brands like Touchstone for more adult-oriented content.
• The Disney brand conveys reassurance, tradition, and quality, evident in the community they've built.
• Privatized, branded cocoons start with shopping, extend to holidays, and may eventually lead to residency.

Commercial Relationships

• The concern is that nearly all relationships could become commercially arbitrated, mediated through commercial interests.
• This raises questions about whether civilization can survive on such a narrow definition of human interaction.

Undercover Marketing

• Undercover marketing involves subtle brand messaging in everyday life.
• Examples include paid doormen displaying empty boxes from specific retailers, actors having loud conversations about a musical act, and strategically placed brands of water in offices.
• Consumers may encounter eight or nine different undercover marketing messages daily.
• Real-life product placement involves integrating products into a person's everyday experiences, turning their life into a movie set.
• Ordinary people can be recruited to promote brands by offering "brand bait," such as knowledge or rituals.
• These individuals spread the brand message to their friends.
• Consumers should be critical of commercial messages but also appreciate products that genuinely improve their lives.

Patenting Life

• The frontiers of the future lie in laboratories and industries, not geographical locations.
• The Chakrabarty case was a significant judicial event where General Electric and Professor Chakrabarty sought to patent a modified microbe that consumes oil spills.
• The U.S. Patent Office initially rejected the patent, stating that patent statutes don't cover living things.
• The U.S. Customs Court of Appeal overturned this decision, surprising many.
• The court stated the microbe resembled a detergent or reagent more than an animal.
• The Patent Office appealed, arguing against patenting life without congressional guidance or public discussion.
• Allowing the patent would mean corporations could own the blueprints of life.
• The Supreme Court ruled five to four in favor of the patent, with Chief Justice Warren Burger calling it a "small decision."
• Seven years later, the U.S. Patent Office decreed that anything alive could be patented, except a full-birth human being.
• The Supreme Court ruled that living organisms produced in the laboratory could be patented.
• Researchers at Harvard patented the Harvard Mouse, genetically engineered to be more susceptible to cancer.
• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the genetically engineered mouse could be patented in Canada.
• Canadians generally believe that life forms shouldn't be considered inventions of industry.
• Bio-prospecting involves scientists and drug companies searching the planet for genes to patent and sell.
• Some view this as a modern "Wild West," with companies collecting genetic material under false pretenses.
• The pursuit of profit risks overshadowing the impartial pursuit of truth.
• There is a race among genomic and biotech companies to identify and claim individual genes as intellectual property.
• Within a decade, a few global companies could own or license the genes that make up the evolution of our species.
• These companies are also beginning to patent the genomes of other creatures.
• The politics of the age of biology will be divided between those who believe life has intrinsic value and those who see life as commercial fare.
• The marketplace may become the ultimate arbiter of all aspects of biology.

Media and Corporate Influence

• Global media corporations, influenced by powerful advertisers, filter information.
• This raises concerns about who will defend the public's right to know and the cost of preserving informed choices.

Case Study: Fox TV and Monsanto

• Fox Television initially promised investigators the freedom to pursue any stories and ask tough questions.
• The first assignment was to shoot a promotional segment for "The Investigators."
• One of the first stories investigated the adulteration of milk with bovine growth hormone (BGH).
• Monsanto effectively coordinated efforts to get BGH approved, involving university professors, experts, reporters, and federal regulators.
• The FDA approved BGH based on limited testing, including a 90-day toxicity test on 30 rats.
• Scientists within Health Canada reached different conclusions about BGH's safety compared to the FDA.
• Health Canada found that BGH did not comply with safety requirements and could be absorbed by the body, posing implications for human health.
• This conclusion was mysteriously deleted from the final published version of their report.
• A Health Canada scientist expressed concerns about secrecy, conspiracy, and pressure to approve drugs of questionable safety, including rBST.
• Monsanto hired a high-priced lawyer who sent a letter to Fox News with false statements to intimidate the broadcaster.
• The general manager of Fox News considered killing the story and asked the investigators to keep it secret.
• The investigators were asked to make changes to the story and broadcast untrue information, with the manager stating, "The news is what we say it is."
• When the investigators refused, they were threatened with firing for insubordination.
• Fox News offered the investigators money to leave and not discuss the story or Monsanto's actions.
• The agreement included a gag order preventing them from speaking about BGH or the corporate response, even at their daughter's PTA meetings.
• Fox News and Monsanto's lawyers began rewriting and editing the story, aiming to remove or minimize any criticism of Monsanto or its product.
• The story was rewritten 83 times, an unprecedented number, to drive the investigators crazy or force them to quit.