I don't think RobertN hates humanity; I think he cares a great deal about it. Corporations and governments will not always be corrupt if they are kept in check. I don't think everyone is capable of behaving like those who run corrupt corporations and governments anyway-I have a feeling most people aren't, which leaves out most of humanity. I think that most people would not behave as corruptly as some corporate executives if they were in their position; in fact, that's probably why they are not in that position in the first place. Positions such as the executive level of corporations (as well as, in some cases, high levels of government) tend to attract a certain type of person, a person who is mainly interested in money and power and will sometimes stoop to great levels to achieve their goal. Getting to that point often involves stepping over people and I think that people who do not have such a strong desire for money and power would feel uncomfortable with that. I know of factory workers who have turned down promotions because they feel that being in a higher position would distance them from the blue collar working men and women they have spent so much time fighting for and siding with. You see the same situation with government (in fact, in the U.S, corporations and government can be very closely linked), although I do believe that there are many who are in the government out of a genuine desire to serve people and make the nation a better place-not to say they're completely uncorrupt, but more so than some (*cough* Delay *cough*) Yeah, it is human nature to look out for your own first, but most humans also have a code of ethics, of right and wrong, and although few people follow it 100% of the time, most make an effort. The lying, cheating, stealing, taking advantage of employees, outright exploitation of laborers, and funding of politicians whose actions hurt people that goes on in some corporations are things that I think (hope!) most people's conscience would not let them do, at least not to a great extent. There are far more small businesses in the U.S than corporations, and I'm willing to bet many of them are content to stay small and/or keep their practices ethical. I'm willing to bet even some corporations are fairly ethical in their practices-the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, for instance, which, unfortunately, was recently threatened by right-wingers in Congress (note: I have nothing against the Republican party-just corrupt politicians, which, unfortunately for it, the Republican party seems to have a disproportionate number of. The Dems probably have their share too) who were going to cut off their funds unless it hired Repubs at top level positions because their programming was too "biased" i.e, it did not serve their interests. If I sound a little unreasonably harsh on right-wingers, or a little extreme, it's because I've been reading a lot of the stuff at theocracywatch.org and the Yurica Report and an online article titled "Expose: The 'Christian' Mafia: Where those who run the government came from and where they are taking us; check it out and you'll see that it's not too unreasonable at all, nor is it a liberal scare tactic-believe me, I really wish it was. That's not to say governments and corporations will always be bad of course, but they need to be kept in check. If this is done, both can do good. The problem is when they become corrupt.
26 Nov 2005, 9:31 am
