Corporations As A Tool

Last week I had a discussion with a colleague who commented to me that corporations are bad things since he watched the documentary ‘Corporation’. Now, I have not watched the show, but I can tell you that the impression it left on my colleague is unfortunate and wrong.

I told him that Corporations are simply publicly sanctioned methods of organizing ourselves. They are not inherently good or evil, but simply allow us to pool our capital (sweat, monetary, and intellectual) to more easily work together to accomplish great things. A cutting knife allows us to prepare food but used in the wrong hands it can be a deadly weapon. The same with a corporation.

A corporation has no mind of its own. It is recognized as a legal entity but that does not mean it can think for itself. That is why it needs Directors and Officers. It is these people that make the good or bad decisions and should be held accountable when things go wrong. To paint all corporations as evil institutions is ignorant.

We don’t charge and punish the knife or gun used in a crime. We go after the criminal. It is time for the anti-corporate protest culture to wake up. Go after the people who give corporations a bad name, but don’t go after the concept of the corporation.

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