Corporations Are People Any Way You Look at Them
Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president against Barack Obama, has gotten himself into some hot water by making the bold statement that corporations are people. Apparently some people are under the impression that corporations are run by robots, aliens, or Oompa-Loompas. Although it could be argued that Oompa-Loompas are people too, so please hold off on the racism™ accusations.
Without people, corporations are just empty boardrooms, factories, trading floors, and storefronts. Corporations are comprised of shareholders, boards of directors, or sole proprietors. They are made up of employees, and they cater to customers looking to buy a product or service. Corporations are people any way you look at them.
This is a good thing. People can anticipate the wants and needs to the market (also comprised of people, by the way), and act accordingly. People read bottom lines and assess cost/benefit ratios, hire and supervise employees, and create things for other people to purchase.
Corporations have a mission and a purpose, and see themselves as members of the community to serve the common good -- else they cease to exist. They have a purpose and have a mission statement. They exist to satisfy our needs and wants.
If companies aren’t people working hard, making decisions, and creating things, then what are they? Job trees are as elusive as money trees. Jobs don’t come from that mythical orchard or from the government -- they come from corporations.
President Obama proposed Monday that the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making over $250,000 a year be rescinded. 894,000 of those individuals are essentially corporations. They take profits from their corporations in the form of income. If the government taxes income from corporations through people ... then corporations are indeed people.
Too many people have drawn a caricature of the corporation in their heads -- a behemoth Uncle Scrooge sitting atop a pile of money and doing absolutely nothing all day. The truth is that these companies provide the vast majority of jobs for the American people, and provide useful products and services for the public at market value.
Nothing wrong with that.
This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and what the other writers have to say, see Are Corporations People?
Image via Jerome/Flickr
Piping Hot Posts
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Mariah Hildebrand
Graciesmom
Chas Holman
Coroprations are people my friend, but Entities are not.. very simple.. *scratches head*..
Don Johnson
Procrastamom
Corporations have a mission and a purpose, and see themselves as members of the community to serve the common good
Ahahahaaaa! Haaaaaaa!! Oh that is RICH!!! Like the common good that unregulated banks and investment companies have heaped on people these many years? Like the common good of manipulating the Libor? Like the common good that BP unleashed on the Gulf of Mexico? That common good?
God Jenny, I wonder what it's like to talk to you face to face. Can you look anybody in the eye when these lies are flying out of your mouth? Or are you just a sociopath?
anon.lilly
Autumnleaves87
We, the corporations ....They are comprised of thousands of people.. how could all of those people agree on the same candidate? The same law? The same movement? How is it fair, even to the stockholders?
The goal is not the same.
The goal for corporations is to make money. My goal, when I donate, when I vote, when I protest, is to make GOOD.
AllisonWD
THIS.
rightside
The goal for corporations is to make money.
Well, golly, you think? Of course their goal is to make money. If they're making money, it means that they are making a product or providing a service that people want or need - satisfying the consumer. Satisfied consumers mean income, and hopefully, profit. Income and profit means they can pay their employees (I know - not really the goal of our fearless leader - employees being paid by for work are way harder to manipulate than those getting their free stuff), and investors profit.
We can see right now what happens when policies are in place that hinder companies from making as much damn money as they can - they don't hire new people, they cut their existing work-force, and the economy spirals downward.
It doesn't frigging matter if corporations are people or not, because at the end of the day, if corporations aren't successful, neither are you.
Cultish