The Corporation---A Documentry You Can't Ignore

The Corporation---A Documentry You Can't Ignore

In this thread it is my goal to analyse the The Corporation as a human entity. Under the law a corporation is afforded all the same right as a person, and therefore it is very easy to use any and all human anylitical tools to find out something very important.

What Kind Of Person Is A Corporation?

Now granted, the work has already been done for me. This stellar documentry that I stumbled upon the other night has widely changed my views on what a Corporation is, and what it should be when operating on the World Stage.

First let us discuss the film. This article is from Wiki.

The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film written by Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. The documentary is critical of the modern-day corporation, considering it as a class of person and evaluating its behaviour towards society and the world at large as a psychatrist might evaluate an ordinary person.

This is explored through specific examples. The Corporation has been displayed worldwide, on television, and via DVD. Bakan wrote the book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (ISBN 0-74324-744-2), during the filming of the documentary.

Source

Sypnosis

The documentary shows the development of the contemporary business corporation, from a legal entity that originated as a government-chartered institution meant to effect specific public functions, to the rise of the modern commercial institution entitled to most of the legal rights of a person. One theme is its assessment as a "personality", as a result of an 1886 case in the United States Supreme Court in which a statement by Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite[nb 1] led to corporations as "persons" having the same rights as human beings, based on the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The film's assessment is effected via the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV; Robert Hare, a University of British Columbia psychology professor and a consultant to the FBI, compares the profile of the contemporary profitable business corporation to that of a clinically-diagnosed psychopath. The documentary concentrates mostly upon North American corporations, especially those of the United States.

The film is in vignettes examining and criticising corporate business practices, to establish parallels, between corporate legal misbehaviour (malfeasance) and the DSM-IV's symptoms of psychopathy, i.e. callous disregard for the feelings of other people, the incapacity to maintain human relationships, reckless disregard for the safety of others, deceitfulness (continual lying to deceive for profit), the incapacity to experience guilt, and the failure to conform to social norms and respect for the law.

Source

From the beginning Corporations were meant to be a service for the people. Legal documents clearly outline how much a company could make, dictated it's actions and various other things.

It is not until they took advantage of the freeing of the slaves did Corporations begin to work for themselves.

The full documentry is a little over 3 hours, but very much worth the time. You can find it all on Youtube in 23 parts, or you may use the link here.

Obviously discussion will take place a little later as this is very long documentry, divided into two parts.

What are your thoughts ATS?

~Keeper

It sounds very interesting. Goes into my bookmarks for viewing later this week.

reply to post by Copernicus


I certainly hope so, it really changed my perspective on how Corporations have used the laws since they were first introduced to their advantage.

And having used the 14th Amendment to do it is just atrocious.

~Keeper

one thing ive never understood is if corporations have the same rights as a person, why arent they prosecuted like people as well ?

If Monsanto pollutes the water around Anniston Alabama, the corporation should be tossed into prison for crimes against humanity. From the people who drove the bulldozers to the corporate executive that ordered this atrocity, they all should face prison.

Instead all these corporations do is pay a fine for monstrous crimes.

I read a book about this some time ago and was shocked by what I learned. It was called Something like "Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance:And the Theft of Human Rights". It seems back in the 1800's court reporters would take the manuscripts of a trial and write books about the specific cases that came before the courts and sell them for big money. Court reporters back then actually made more money than the Judges and lawyers who tried the case by selling these books. Well back in 1886 there was a case in California concerning a railroad company that owed back taxes to the sum of $300,000 dollars to the state of California for the land it was using to run its trains on. Well to make a long and rather complicated story short the court reporter wrote a book about this trial and as was the usual practice back then the court reporter added his own opinions and notes about the trial and somewhere in the book he wrote that cooperations were actual humans with the right to vote even and to this day it is considered a finding of this court proceding that Corporations are human beings and to this day it has never been challenged. Because of an opinion by a court reporter this happened. It was never ever the actual finding of the court rather just an opinion by a court reporter. Wierd I know but a true story none the less. All the facts are written in this book and I suggest everyone read it. To this day and because of this horrible mistake by a court reporter corporations can vote and donate money to the candidate they choose. For years and years before this corporations had tried and tried to be recognized as actual entities but every time the Judge would shoot them down but by mistake it was finally considered an actual finding and nothing could be further from the truth. Sorry for my ramblings but I hope the point is made. The book is very technical and goes on and on about legal mumbo jumbo that is hard to follow but a eye opener none the less.
Here is a link to a website that sells the book. By no means do I wish to promote any website that sells anything and Im sure this book can be found at any library.
www.alibris.com...:%20The%20Rise%20of%20Corporate%20Dominance%20and%20the%20Theft%20of%20Huma n%20Rights

[edit on 5-8-2009 by kenton1234]

1 flag?

what a shame on corporate America