Growing old: Humans and corporations

[coberst]

Growing old: Humans and corporations

As a human grows older s/he generally loses power to the final end when all power disappears.

As a corporation grows older its power and wealth generally increases and its life has no obvious termination.

Do humans control corporations or do corporations control humans? As time goes on how does this power ratio change?

We seem to have developed a fetish (obsessive devotion) for commodification (making an entity an object of commerce) and reification (making an object of an idea). In other words, we seem to be obsessed with making more of what were human values into objects and making these objects valued in dollars.

In a world of such fetishes it seems to me that the corporation constantly gains and humans constantly lose.

What is the logical end for such a process? I think the logical end is that humans slowly morph into a machine controlled by our invented machines, i.e. our corporations.

[rocket art]

The ultimate process of making the world stink like a pig stye is not a logical end. Mother Nature provides far better insights than desert-like deprived perversions.

[InfiniteNow]

We've evolved a want to have more for less resource expenditure. While there is this idea out there of "corporations," it is still just a group of people, not some living entity. There are, however, people who are at the reins of corporation... steering it's finances and people toward some common end... namely, profit.

It's the humans seeking the profit, and the corporation is the machine to help us get there. You might pick up some ideas by reading about group hunting in the animal kingdom and alpha behavior. The corporation is the hunting pack and the Board of Directors/CEO/Shareholders are the alpha...



Sorry officer, my car MADE me run that bastard over. I had no choice... i.e. It's a copout to blame what's happening on a corporation instead of the people running them.

[jackson33]

there is a lot more to a cooperation then age. start with management and follow it to keeping up with the times...

the newest major company, also expected to be the first trillion dollar company, Google, is an infant to most other.

you are seeing two very old companies going to there death, for not keeping up with the times and in my opinion lack of management. Ford and GM. there are countless companies that have nearly died and come back to be giants. GE, AT&T, 3-M, Dow, just a few...

yes people rule the cooperation. aside from being subject to public opinion, they have management, boards of directors and millions of share holders.
they give jobs, a way of life, and are the pride of many communities around the world. yet all in and done they can control no one...

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by jackson33

you are seeing two very old companies going to there death,

J33,

Whom are you addressing?

[coberst]

InfiniteNow

The corporation is a legal entity and as such can have, in practical terms, an infinite life. It accumulates and grows without suffering a terminal end as do humans. I think we might imagine it as a great ship that can grow in strength and size and sail on forever. How much the corporation shapes the humans in it and how much the humans shape the corporation is an interesting matter. It might be thought of as a leviathan.

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by coberst

The corporation is a legal entity and as such can have, in practical terms, an infinite life. It accumulates and grows without suffering a terminal end as do humans.

Coberst,

I will concede that you've clearly thought more on the topic than I, and my response was relatively topical. However, I do have a different stance. I think that the metrics by which corporations are measured do very much show suffering and terminal ends... but, your point intended greater context I imagine.


Cheers.

[rocket art]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

It's the humans seeking the profit, and the corporation is the machine to help us get there. You might pick up some ideas by reading about group hunting in the animal kingdom and alpha behavior. The corporation is the hunting pack and the Board of Directors/CEO/Shareholders are the alpha...

It's appropriate to identify such as a tool, but to identify it as institution will be a tragic comedy. Even wolves and apes seem moral in their own sense as they do it for the benefit of their fellows, and not to enslave or suck their fellows. Such fanatical perspective of it being "infinite" seemed to perceive the corporation with extremist "religious" zeal for the service of Mammon. We're supposed to be humans, and should get over with the excuse of acting like predictable sex animals. May as well read Carl Jung's too.

The corporation is a legal entity and as such can have, in practical terms, an infinite life.

The corporation being "institutionalized" rather than as tool will definitely thrive for greed as it thrives only on human weakness, and the detestable consequences that such lust does against one's fellow human will be far from legal, as the bleak reality that is presently occuring around the world is evidence to such atrocity. As may be noticed from the post, it seemed to illusion itself as more 'infinite' than the Human Phenomenon. Attempt to extend the viewpoint and discover that such perversion will deserve far greater, infinite opposition.

(Am editing it now, pardon)