Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The corporation as a psychopath

Would you be friends with a person who behaves in an antisocial manner and only acts in his own self interest with no regard for the consequences of his actions and without considering the adverse effect of his antisocial behavior on other people?
What do you call a person who has gets satisfaction through antisocial behavior and has no remorse for his actions?
What would you do with a person who deliberately breaks the law and rationalizes it by saying it’s cheaper to break the law rather than comply with it?
Would you let a friend eat your food, trash your home, and pollute the air in your home despite your pleas to the contrary?

A person who behaves in an antisocial manner and only acts in his own self interest with no regard for the consequences of his actions and without considering the adverse effect of his antisocial behavior on other people is by definition a psychopath. That's not someone you would want as a friend. Yet there is legal precedent for allowing corporations to behave in such a manner.
A person who deliberately breaks the law and rationalizes it by saying it's cheaper to break the law rather than comply with it would be in serious jeopardy of losing his freedom. Corporations do this very thing and receive little more than a slap on the wrist. Corporations use a cost/benefit analysis to decide whether to obey environmental and safety regulations or risk being caught and being punished. If it costs too much to comply with regulations, they simply don't comply because they are beholden to their shareholders and not the government. The only directive a corporation has is to make money for its shareholders. This is why corporations can get away with polluting the air and contaminating our waters - they claim it costs too much to comply with the regulations. A person acting in this manner would be jailed, however, corporations are rarely held accountable for this same behavior.

Since it's highly unlikely that corporations will be legislated out of existence, they are considered persons under the law, we need to hit them where it hurts - their wallet. Increased the penalties for noncompliance so that non-compliance is more expensive than compliance then there will be a corresponding change in corporate behavior. Corporations will care about the environment when it benefits their bottom line.

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