The Corporation

One passage in particular really caught my eye when reading The Corporation by Joel Bakan.  On page 25, Bakan states that power in society is held, against common belief, by the corporations as opposed to the governing bodies that have been elected to hold said power.  This was initially very surprising at first glance but after considering the claim multiple times I eventually began to agree with Bakan and this particular portion of his argument.  The reality is that over the years the regulations that have been created to limit the power of these corporations have loosened greatly.  This really bothers me but Bakan goes on to say that it is this power that is their greatest weakness.  Many (including myself) do not dismiss the possibility of corruption in these massive companies.   Corporations can be very secretive and that results in a loss of trust from the people.  It leads me to believe that I should not fall into the hands of the advertisements that soften the image of the corporations, as they more than likely are hiding the reality of working conditions and finances.

On pages 71-73, it becomes apparent that many corporations are the cause of the continuing destruction of the environment as they continue business with no regard to the negative effects they are having on the world, all to save money and increase profit.  This point is argued particularly well as it connects the destruction of the environment to the apathy and/or ignorance of the corporations.  It did a very good job at quoting a founding member of an organization’s admittance to never really considering the business’ impact on the environment.  One thing that could have been done to strengthen the argument was go into some detail as to what negative effects are present in the environment because of this lack of attention or care.