Q & A

Q: Are corporations evil?

A: The short answer is no. Now, for the long answer.

A corporation is simply a limited liability entity. What this means is that the owners of a corporation can conduct the business of their company without bearing a personal cost except for the potential loss of the capital tied up in the business. For instance, a restaurant chain can poison its customers and be sued into bankruptcy. But the plaintiffs in the case are not able to go after the personal property of the shareholders in that company. This is how I and many others can own stock in mutual funds and not worry that our homes will be taken in a lawsuit because one of the stocks in that fund was in a company doing bad things.

This model of limited liability has proven extremely advantageous as large amounts of capital are now in these companies. It is virtually impossible to build large fortunes or have the level of capital investment we see today without this structure in place. There are some successful privately owned firms, but they are all incorporated under their own limited liability structures.

Some argue that since corporations are legal entities that they are created by the state which is why they are a problem. This is really a bunch of shit since even the most ardent anarcho-capitalist admits that a private legal structure would operate under a common law system. Clearly, the precedent for incorporation would quickly evolve under this system as no one would take such huge risks without it. This would almost certainly include the proprietors of that private legal entity.

Leftards argue that corporations are evil because they operate according to greed. This is not precisely the case as many charities and non-profits operate under limited liability as well. But profit seeking corporatons are greedy. So, what? How do they make a buck? By offering products and services to consumers at low prices. It is the greed of the producer that fulfills the needs of the consumer. This is what Adam Smith showed us a couple of centuries ago. It is still true today.

When corporations become evil is when they try and gain some advantage in the marketplace to deter competitors. This can only be done through rent seeking. This is where corporations go to Uncle Sam and ask for a law, a contract, or a subsidy that benefits them while hampering their competitors. The irony is that this protectionism leads to higher prices, decreased productivity, and the loss of profits over the long term. If you doubt this, look no further than Amtrak and the US Postal Service. Neither is profitable nor loved by consumers.

Corporations give us a lot of good things. The computer I am writing this on was made by a corporation. The meal I just ate was produced by another corporation and was bought from Walmart. The money I used to buy it came from another corporation. People have a bad habit of not seeing what is right in front of their eyes. You enjoy the highest standard of living in history because of the greed of those corporations. Plus, you can participate in that profit making by saving a portion of your income and investing it in those corporations. Can you lose that investment? Certainly. This is the same risk those millionaires and billionaires take with their money. Those who take the risks deserve the rewards.

It is fashionable to blame corporations for all manner of ills. Yet, a historical comparison of corporations to governments shows that governments are much more evil than the corporations. The critics of corporations are strangely silent when it comes to the atrocities of government. Why is this? The answer is simple. Marxists love government and hate capitalism. Greed may make the corporations provide for your consumption, but it is the status envy and class hatred of the Marxist that wants to undo this. The consuming public being stupid buys the Marxist lies and wants to kill the very thing that makes their high standard of living possible.

Government gets all the credit while corporations shoulder all the blame. A low bar is set for judging the government which it can never clear while a high bar is set for corporations that they clear on a regular basis. But this is not enough for the Marxist. The bar must be ever higher, and anything less than Utopia is a failure. Meanwhile, you are supposed to forget the misery that Marxism has heaped upon millions throughout the last century. It boggles the fucking mind. Which would you rather have? The real world of the free market or the fake utopia of Marxism? Only one of these exists.

The general public is utterly clueless about economics. Plus, they are wedded to welfare state hand outs. That welfare state is running out of wealth to loot, so the general public is clamoring for more looting. This is akin to being pissed at farmers for not growing more food and demanding to eat their seed corn. It really is this stupid.

Marxists love to pit the virtue of altruism against the vice of selfishness. But this is not the way it should be. We need to pit the vice of consumption against the virtues of thrift and production. It is consumption of capital and immediate gratification that are the enemies of wealth. In short, you cannot spend more than you make. The USA has been doing precisely that for the last decade, and that system is now collapsing. Naturally, the corporations are to blame. And what do you hear from the Marxist horde? "Consumption creates jobs." Unfuckingbelievable. Consumption doesn't create jobs. Capital creates jobs. And capital comes from not consuming. Production must always exceed consumption to have sustainability and ever increasing wealth. This will never change. It is as unalterable as the law of gravity. There are no free lunches.

Naturally, those like myself are cited for a lack of compassion and being cold hearted. This is because I work and want to keep what I earn. This what the thief says to the homeowner before making off with stolen property. My need and his greed.

There was a time when the wealthy really did get wealthy from theft. This would be royalty, feudal aristocrats, and slave owners. Free markets was the end to this looting. Marxism merely equates the capitalists with the aristocrats of a previous time. But this is the wrong analogy. The capitalists in those days were on the fringe plying their trades and selling their wares. Misery was uniform even for the aristocrats who may have enjoyed a higher social standing and freedom from labor but not much else. The analog to these parasites today would be politicians who are short on capital but long on benevolence. "Public service" is what they call it as if it was some divine calling and done out of duty and sacrifice. What a load of shit. Remember this the next time you see a congressman's name plastered on a sign on some bridge that he constructed with looted money. It is funny how they make sure to get that sign put up. Disgusting.

Corporations are good. If you hate them, the best punishment is to stop rent seeking and champion the free market. This makes them work harder, produce more, and do a better job.

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