I just wrote this piece on Medium, trying to reach out to moderate types who might be reachable. Quoted the bible too, and used ‘bible’ and ‘constitution’ as tags — on Medium, when you read one article, you see others with similar tags. Would love to hear from Kos-ers how else we can effectively reach outside of our own community and just maybe influence a few minds.
If you have a minute, clap for it here — medium.com/…
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Corporations are allowed to give unlimited donations to influence our government, even if they manage to avoid paying any taxes to support it. In 2016, corporations and private businesses gave over 2.5 billion dollars in campaign contributions1. So how surprising is it that the tax bill being proposed gives corporations a huge tax break?
Taking care of the elderly and indigent, the most vulnerable members of our society, is an ancient imperative. Religions call for it and anticipate the opposition of those in power: “Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! Vindicate the oppressed and suffering! Rescue the poor and needy! Deliver them from the power of the wicked! (Psalm 82:3–4)” So this isn’t a new thing. Yet the tax bill clearly removes health care from the poor in favor of corporations and the wealthy (Senate GOP tax bill hurts the poor more than originally thought, CBO finds). Why does this pattern keep happening, and how is it two thousand years later we don’t recognize it for what it is, and decide rationally how to resolve it?
Corporations aren’t inherently evil. But they cannot be inherently good¹. (unless they are B corporations — but more on that later) A corporation is simply a device for people to share ownership of an enterprise. Corporate law requires that the officers promote the interests of the shareholders — defined as the financial interests. For example, if I were a shareholder in a mining company, the assumption would be that my interest is in moving forward with mining in the Santa Rita mountains — even if I personally am aghast and horrified at the idea of ruining my beloved hiking spot. But the presumption is that my interest is only financial. All other, human and humane, considerations are set aside.
The simplest model of ‘good’, of behavior that intentionally benefits others in society, is the Prisoner’s Dilemma, discussed at more length here. The main takeaway is that people act better when they will meet again, and the longer term and more transparent the relationship the more cooperative it likely will be. This is patently obvious to anyone on the Net — anonymity breeds trolls.
This leads to another, more subtle, problem with corporations. It may seem that they can enter into long term relationships, but in fact the humans running the corporation can cut and run or be forced out. A corporation trying to behave in a cooperative way, that makes less than the maximum possible profit, can be ‘bodysnatched’ and have its CEO replaced by one who will be more ruthless. Likewise a corporation that acts to gain short-term profit by polluting can be fined, but the leadership who decided on those policies have already left with golden parachutes. Thus a corporation is inherently unable to engage in a long-term relationship.
So how can a corporation be a first class citizen? Why do we want them able to influence our government, by the people and for the people?
We don’t, of course, but it’s happened anyway, because of the level of influence already in place. This tax bill entrenches the relative power of corporations even more strongly, if we let it pass.
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1 The total in corporate and business donations was found by summing the amounts donated for the 2016 election cycle by entities whose contributor names matched a given pattern, such as ‘corp’, ‘inc’, ‘industries’ etc. This may include some PACs of corporations. The donations were on all levels, federal, state, and local. The number is not guaranteed to be precise but should be a legitimate rough estimation of the contributions under the control of corporate and private business entities.
Classic text on corporate behavior: The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power
What is a B Corporation?