After a long pause, my reply...
You write:
"Both BePatient and Screamer more or less implied that the concept that big corporations are evil is wrong because they know many people that work at big corporations that are not evil."
I can't speak for Bill, but what I was implying, perhaps poorly, was that not all management types are ill-willed or "evil". Nothing else. I think most all have contributed to a rather good thread here.
The concept that a corporation is good or evil is not really debateable, since we haven't said "which corporation". I would pose to you the question, "is Enron worse as an historical entity on the "evil" scale as say, the Catholic Church"? You see where I would take this and you definately don't want to go there. The Church or the Business is nothing more than an abstract name for a group of individuals, some bad - most good.
Perhaps what you mean, is "companies" are uncaring, bottom line centered, etc... I would give you no argument at all there. Be aware though that most well run companies do - make money. Others have done a good job explaining how companies had better do a little more than just make money (like satisfy their customers, employees and stockholders) or they won't be around very long...
Before you paint me into a "shill for the Invisible Hand", let me make it clear that I feel that the Gov needs to regulate certain aspects of Business... I have had to constantly remind the Invisible Handers that most waterways in this country (USA) are not safe to swim in or eat the fish from. As well, most people (no matter how self righteous they appear) do not want a garbage dump or toxic waste site in their back yard (or even a cell phone tower)...
It's interesting now, that the government is stepping in since we have tons of radioactive waste that's been building up over the last 45 years that is currently being stored above ground (not even close to optimal) and making a tough decision - let's use the FEDERAL LAND which Nevada is almost entirely composed of and build a safer storage area"... Makes a certain amount of sense, no? Answer - "NOT IN MY BACKYARD, BUCKO!". Oh, okay, let's put it in New York instead...
No, Jay, I suffer from not seeing things Booleinly (word?)... The world is neither good nor evil to me, corps are neither good nor evil, courts are not just or unjust, people are not either Democrat or Republican, you get the idea? What I do believe is that when problems get too complex, people want to simplify them and assess blame. I'm guilty of it too...
I keep coming back to my old standard people to blame... If we could find it in our hearts to kill our American desire to be "consumers" first and human beings second, then we might have a chance at reforming our corporate landscape (when's the last time YOU bought an American made shirt or shoe?). If we could find a way to elect officials that are willing to do things that will cause us all great pain and suffering and then have the guts to "re-elect them", then we'll straighten out politics...
Example of last statement. Our government (We) owe over $5,000,000,000,000,000. Will you be man enough to tell the next asshole politician who says we have a "surplus" of any kind, "SHUT THE (*&&* UP!". We should freeze all new spending and pay of the frigging debt now. We also should elect officials to that say, "quit using your freaking cars so much - buy some that get good gas mileage at the very least - etc..." I could go on add nauseum... We won't elect these people because by nature, human beings are hedonistic piggies.
In fact, my friend, I will go as far as to say that I am not even hopeful that we will get much further than the bacteria on the petri dish. We will glutton until we are living on top of the corpses and feces of the others before we even notice the food is gone... Now, you want to talk about taxes?
