WHY I BLAME THE SYSTEM
(and not people)

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2009/07/about-looking-for-someone-to-blame.html

I don't usually like to use other people words in explaining myself, but Mr. Beaven (pronounced Beh-vin, not Bee-vin) perfectly explains why I think the problem is not about merely changing the people at the top but changing the structure. I've been to business school; the mode of thinking that he speaks about is exactly the box we're forced into. In the business world, the corporate system forces you to think and analyze situations only by looking at how your actions benefit the corporation, for whom you are a representative agent. Whatever is good for the corporation is good for you, and you really are never forced to consider how your actions affect those who are involved with the corporations (other employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, etc.; these people are called "stakeholders", and becoming beholden to them as well is the subject of some recent economic thought, although it certainly hasn't been put widely into practice).

It's interesting because if you read about Bernie Madoff, all reports seem to indicate he was a great guy. Obviously, what he did is more of an obvious fraud than any "normal" corporation, but the idea is still the same: these "people" (as a corporation is legally considered a person) pursue their basic self-interst, i.e. making as much money as possible, regardless of who you harm in the process. The only difference is that in the Bernie Madoff case, the damages were direct, large, and human, whereas corporations are doing slow, long-term damage to the environment, and it's not as clear why it would be the corporation's fault.

People are taught by our system to think selfishly, and it's a hard philosophy to break through. It's harder to identify what you think and why, and when you make decisions over and over, taking into account the same factors over and over, those factors achieve a level of moral certitude.

I know this is all a bit rambling. The whole idea derives from a few conversations I have had with friends of mine. They've claimed, at various times, that it is the people, these "faceless executives" making millions and ripping off the PEOPLE, who must be stopped. I've always likened this to giving Tylenol for the brain tumor, or cutting our lung cancer without asking the person to stop smoking. These executives are products of a system that rewards them for self-interested actions. Corporations are programmed machines (I've often likened them to "spirits" or "ghosts", as they have no independent existence outside of the corporate charter on which they're written) whose sole goal and motivation is to make money. (I know I've said this before, but...) when you work for a corporation, and all your decisions are made in terms of that goal, you inherit that goal as a life philosophy of your own.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/24/adam-smith-corporations-markets-marketsp07-cx_mh_1025hodak.html

http://www.pcdf.org/corprule/betrayal.htm

I find it funny when free-marketists champion Adam Smith as their original hero, as he had a lot of nasty things to say about the corporation (called a joint-stock company in his time). It's funny to read the Forbes article above because they seem to think Adam Smith would be somewhat fond of today's corporate structure without at all addressing any of the complaints he makes about it. The problem is that, in essence, the purpose of the corporation is also its greatest fault. A corporation exists to make money and shield its investors from liability. It keeps investors at arms-length, only interested in how much money the corporation can make them.

In light of all this, and reflecting on our recent financial collapse, it becomes harder and harder to imagine a future where this sort of destruction does not occur without getting rid of the corporate structure. Any change that does not address this corporate programming and arms-length investors are only going to me technocratic solutions which do not really get at the fundamental cause of the problem.