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Anti-corporate activism

Anti-corporate activists (see activism) believe that the rise of large business corporations is posing a threat to the legitimate authority of the public good. These corporations, they believe, are invading people's privacy, manipulating politics and governments, and creating false needs in consumers.

Support evidence

The sort of evidence that supports this belief includes invasive advertising (such as billboards, television ads, adware, spam, telemarketing), massive corporate campaign contributions in democratic elections, interference in the policies of sovereign nation states (see, for example, Ken Saro-Wiwa), and endless global news stories about corporate corruption (Martha Stewart and Enron, for example). Anti-corporate protesters suggest that corporations answer only to shareholders, giving human rights and other issues almost no consideration.

In practice, the management of a limited company do have primary responsibility to their shareholders, since any philanthropic activities that do not directly serve the business could be deemed to be a breach of trust. This sort of financial responsibility means that multi-national corporations will usually pursue strategies which intensify labour and attempt to reduce costs. For example, they will (either directly, or through subcontractors) attempt to find low wage economies with laws which are conveniently lenient on human rights, the environment, trade union organization and so on (see, for example, Nike, Inc.).

Furthermore, corporations, in the relentless pursuit of material production and by devoting themselves solely to material ends, neglect the soul of humankind, intentionally forcing not only Americans, but the rest of the world to abandon their religious convictions and their religious practices, so that they live not as "one nation under God" but as "one nation under corporations."

By anti-religious propagandizing in the corporate-managed American media, "religious fundamentalists", "radical Islamic" "terrorists", and any other organization that opposes the conversion to corporate materialism, people who wish not to engage corporate America and participate in materialistic consumerism, are condemned, outcast, criminalized, and forced to the margins of society. Their culture and their way of life destroyed, they cannot live devoted to the religious ideologies that bring them peace, relaxation, and well-being, or to the culture they create, but can only submit to the corporate culture, a culture that has yet to prove it is in any way more worthy of leadership.

People who object to corporate culture are forced into the corporate "system", given a number, an address, tracked by computers, so that they can be used as perfect corporate consumers, thus making corporations and their CEO's rich, in complete control over the means of survival of everyone, and so powerful they can never be challenged.

The message from corporate America is clear: Hold a corporate job, buy our corporate products, be an obedient corporate American, or be destroyed. In this corporate imperialism, no other way of life or culture is allowed to exist, or it is allowed to exist only "under" the corporations. It can never be the dominant power structure, even in its own country.

No other country is allowed to exist unless it succumbs to "free trade" or it allows its citizens to be used as corporate consumers. Any country that neglects to bow down to the demands of corporate America is labelled part of an "Axis of Evil" or similar rhetoric and, failing to consent to the demands of corporate America, is simply destroyed and taken over by brute American military force.

Against

The defenders of corporations would argue that governments do legislate in ways that restrict the actions of corporations (see Sarbanes-Oxley Act) and that lawbreaking companies and executives are routinely caught and punished. In addition from the perspective of business ethics it might be argued that chief executives are not inherently more evil than anyone else and so are no more likely to attempt unethical or illegal activity than the general population. Nonetheless, the structures of bureaucracy and the financial imperatives of capitalism seem to result in forms of behaviour which are often damaging for local communities, employees and the environment.

Alliances

Anti-corporate activists may often ally themselves with other activists, such as environmental activists or animal-rights activists in their condemnation of the practices of modern organizations such as the McDonald's Corporation (see McLibel) and forestry company Gunns Limited (see Gunns 20).

In recent years, there have been an increasing number of books (Naomi Klein's 2000 No Logo being a well-known example) and films such as The Corporation which have to a certain extent "sold" an anti-corporate politics. There has also been a certain confusion of anti-corporate politics with a more generalised anti-globalisation politics.

Art activism

Political artist Billy Knows posted his "Greed" posters all across America and Europe in 2004 proclaiming Mickey the Rat as the new American icon. Another artist critical of socio political agendas in business is conceptualist Hans Haacke.

Anti-Corporate Web sites

In June of 2008, Condé Nast Publications released an article entitled "The Secret Seven" which it listed the top seven anti-corporate web sites which include: wikileaks, Mini-Microsoft, Brenda Priddy and Company , Farmers Insurance Group Sucks,Wal-Mart Watch, HomeOwners for Better Building and finally Apple Rumor Sites AppleInsider and MacRumors.

References

The Corporation Bakan, J (2004) The Corporation
Political Actions by Billy Knows
Hertz, N (2002) Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy, Arrow.
Klein, Naomi (2000). No Logo. Vintage Canada. ISBN 0-676-97282-9.
Monbiot, G (2001) Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain, Pan.