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Today's Reading

On my breaks between laying out ads and putting out small fires started by idiot clients, I check out Tear Down This Wal?, a debate between two economists about Wal-Mart's impact on the American economy. Good, thoughtful stuff. As a companion piece, The American Prospect also offers a review of The Corporation, a documentary based on the book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit Of Profit And Power. Neither is particularly corporate-friendly:

Through a series of case studies on pollution, exploitative labor practices, and deceptive marketing strategies, the filmmakers make a convincing argument for putting the corporation in a straitjacket. The corporation is relentlessly selfish; its primary goal, to the exclusion of all others, is to turn a profit for its shareholders. Using up and leaving the cheap labor forces of poor countries? “An incapacity to maintain enduring relationships,” according to the psychoanalysist’s diagnostic guide, the DSM-IV. Spraying DDT all over people or lying much about antibiotics in milk? “Reckless disregard for the safety of others.”

The corporation, the film argues, suffers from a debilitating lack of empathy, an inability to accept responsibility for its actions or to feel sorrow or remorse for the consequences of what it does. The filmmakers’ verdict: According to the DSM-IV, the corporation is … a prototypical psychopath.

Happy fun time!

Posted by kevinmoore at June 9, 2004 10:28 AM | TrackBack