How come people who harbor suspicions of corporations know so little of corporations?

Question

Many people have stated some very ignorant negative statements about corporations with no basis.

Answer 1

The problem occurs when corporations are able to influence the government in a corrupt manner AND use the mainstream media to spread deceitful propaganda to further their interests.

It would be a beautiful thing if our economy was exclusively dependent on the forces of supply and demand. Efficiency would rule.

A divorce of government and big business would be necessary, though. No lobbyists and less regulation.

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Answer 2

I would be extremely interested to see a comparison of the level of suspicion of corporations with employment by corporations.
I work for a large corporation. I am suspicious of it and other large corporations, just as I am suspicious of any government that does not have a working system of checks and balances in it. Because of the structure and goals of corporations, the necessary checks and balances must come from the outside. The only internal checks on the corporation come from individuals who have loyalties to something greater than the corporation.

Answer 3

You must be crazy!

Although not all corporations are bad, clearly one can understand why some harbor suspicions about them. First, you have the entire and sole focus of the corporation is profit. This, in and of itself, is not bad and does not warrant suspicion. The problem comes about when a corporation's profit motives overwhelms its duty to operate in a way that does not harm people. Many corporations miss the mark regarding corporate responsibility.

How many pharmaceutical companies placed drugs on the market-- KNOWING that their drug caused serious and irreversible (sometimes fatal) harm? Pfizer used an untested meningitis drug, Trovan, on 200 children, killing 11 and leaving 180 with deformities-- including paralysis, deafness, blindness and brain damage. There are hundred more example. (1)?

What about Wal-Mart’s (one of the most profitable companies in the world who receive millions of dollors in state subsidies) ‘policy’ to give out welfare forms so their employees can get government assistance (2) ! If that isn’t enough what about corporations who knowingly placed chemicals in waterways that killed hundreds (3), made vehicles that explode (when its own engineers notified them of the defect) (4), created cigarettes with 600 additives so addictive that it takes a damn cancer scare to quit (5). Hell, can you believe Ford & IBM helped the damn Nazis of Germany (6)? Anything for a profit.

Do you think the investment bankers do not deserve our suspicions? During the dot.com boom, they were publicly hyping and pushing the same stocks while they were dumping them in private (7). Perhaps you forgot how most of the major insurance companies sold policies to African Americans for huge premiums relative to the policy amounts (8). They had no problems screwing the most vulnerable. Don't even get me started at today's finance companies.

Are you not suspicious of Health insurance companies? Get cancer or some other sickness. Most of those in, or have gone through, bankruptcy had insurance (or thought they had) only to be told that there particular sickness was not covered--after hundreds of dollars a month for a freaking decade (9) ! Property Insurance companies collected millions of dollars from homeowners across the country. But...when a disaster hits, these companies stall in making payouts, forcing the home owners to settle for less (10). When the government gets involve, the insurance companies respond with the threat of not insuring any home within the state. But...no reason to be suspicious.

Trans-fat and hormones in foods, lead in toys, secret interest rates on credit cards and loans (that sneak up and slap your *** into poverty and beyond) while banks grow rich. All the while, these corporation provides millions of dollars to our politicians to prevent regulation so they can continue to wheel and deal.

As if that’s not enough, when the public finally has enough with a corporation, it fires the US employees and moves to Mexico and screws them all over again.

Though I am bent over and taking it in the you-know-where, I'm not suspicious. ….

Answer 4

Corporation are the reason that the "poor" in America drive SUV's, live in big houses, purchase XBox's, eat out 5 nights a week, etc.

Sometimes they choose these luxuries over the basics like health care. Now they want America's working class to pay for their insurance, preschool and kid's college.

Answer 5

It may be due to the likes of

- Enron
- Smith Barney
- Wal-Mart (had employees on medicaid)

and the litany of other crooked dealings by ruthless people who seem willing to kill for more than they could waste in 1000 lifetimes.

Thus, I profoundly disagree with your implication of people being ticked at corporations without knowing why.


edit: Speaking of "ignorant negative statements" (as quoted from this question), there's the same responder who stated that I was to afraid to join the service, even though I had already been there, and done that. Funny, he agrees with you on this.

Answer 6

I worked for a 22 billion dollar corporation, that tried to decide who you could and couldn't socialize with.
Does that give me the right to say bad things about them?

we joked around the office, that you could always tell who the newbies were, because they were the ones that were happy to be there.
That lasted for about 6 weeks, when they acquired the veteran frown.

Answer 7

I will have to admit I knew very little about a corporation called Enron, thankful I wasn't invested in it and especially glad didn't work for it along with about a dozen other corps. who followed along the same road as Enron.

Answer 8

Informed statements are rarely negative.