The corporation as a subordinate group, serving public interest and limited by the Charter granted to them is far removed from the operations we see in modern corporations. And of course, ho-hum, corporate lawyers led the charge to remove these constraints. I had never learnt about the history of corporations, just basic economics, so a lot of this information was new to me.
The history of ‘personhood’ of corporations was particularly surprising. The successful challenge by corporate lawyers to the 14th amendment, arguing that corporations are persons whom should not be deprived of the rights guaranteed to women and men, was shocking. And though we would like to say we are far removed from that naïve period in time, corporations retain that position as a legal person. But corporations act nothing like you or I do, and lack many of the defining characteristics that make us human. Taking a quote from Lord Chancellor Thurlow, “no soul to damn, no body to kick”. So, to see corporations attain such a status, through such a grotesque way, was as enlightening as it was disappointing.
[An aside] Following watching the documentary, I was left curious as to how the Canadian jurisprudence developed with regards to corporate personhood. I came upon this link for anyone interested: http://www.thecourt.ca/2009/09/the-corporation-as-a-person-legal-fact-or-fiction/
On the subject of corporations doing good, compassionate capitalism is a bit of a rarity. As Sir Mark Moody-Stuart mentioned in the documentary, “we as business people know we need to be seen as constructive members of society”. But, being seen as an ethical corporation and actually performing ethical practices are not one in the same.
I don’t have an answer for regulation of corporations. In large part, corporations have an insatiable appetite for wealth, and providing tax breaks and bailouts may only feed that craving. Pork barrel politics and increasing divides between top-earners and the lower and middle class has been an issue for quite some time abroad as well as at home. However, could we attribute a large amount of innovation over the years as a justification to these free-wielding corporations?
