The Corporation

Corporation is defined by the OED as “A body corporate legally authorized to act as a single individual; an artificial person created by royal charter, prescription, or act of the legislature, and having authority to preserve certain rights in perpetual succession”. This definition is a very, complex and wordy definition. Essentially a corporation is a business that is recognized and supported by the state and has the legal rights of a natural person. A natural person is a human being, as opposed to an artificial legal person. A corporation’s main function is profit. Profit without regard for the cause and effect. Soon after the Civil War and ratification of the 14th amendment, corporate lawyers claimed that they should be treated as a person and thus earned the rights of a person, e.g. the ability to own property, buy other businesses, sue and be sued.

Corporations are protected by government and financed by banks. The owners, shareholders and other interests in corporations are not directly responsible for their actions. It is the corporation, the single entity, which is responsible. Therefore no human individuals are at fault legally for any of the corporation’s actions. Justice Louis Brandeis called corporations “Frankenstein monsters”. Frankenstein after he was created destroyed his creator. The people created the corporation and the corporations soon turned against the people. Corporations do not care about the people or any negative effects that they may have on them. They care only about increasing their own profits.

People generally do not ask what corporations are. Corporations are involved in our daily life. They own almost every aspect of our lives. They own or produce the news, media, automobiles, food, water, et cetera. It is nearly impossible to go through a full day without once seeing an advertisement by a corporation either to sell their goods or create a better name for them. They have a larger influence on daily life than people realize. It is interesting why more people do not actively realize the influence corporations have. Corporations work very hard to make sure that their name is not slandered and people do not question them. They spend large amount of money in things like philanthropic work and environmental sustainability, and make sure it is well known. Plus how could someone who works forty hour weeks to have enough money to feed a family ever have anytime to philosophically question anything.