Research Paper
Please read!
This is my term final, a research paper on power abuse in corporations/manythingsthatgoalongwiththat.
It would mean a lot to get feedback etc.
FIGHTING CORPORATE ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE
Corporations are commonplace household names and most people don’t put a lot of thought into the things that they buy or how those products were manufactured and brought to them. However, the massive amount of political and social corruption in these systems is causing a variety of tightly laced global issues affecting almost everyone from rich America to third world Africa. These issues are: a growing rift between the upper and lower classes, environmental destruction and pollution, political corruption, undermining local economies, and taking unfair advantage of third world countries. There are not huge varieties of solutions to these issues beyond activism and day-to-day choice making at this point but a change is possible if people make an individual effort against governmental injustice.
PROBLEMS
Disappearance of America’s Middle Class
America’s Upper class, a small portion of the country is soaring higher and higher above the lower class because of corporate investments and exclusiveness. The same concept is transferring itself into the rest of the world, as well; there is a single 1% of earth’s population that owned a whole 90% of the world’s property and wealth in 2004. Currently 1% owns 95% of the world’s property and wealth (Love 1) while the total world population has gone from 6.4 billion to 6.8 billion (US Census Bureau 1). This means that while the amount of people occupying the earth has increased, the percentage of those possessing wealth has stayed constant, only they have accumulated more substance. This makes the leftover 5% of resources that do not belong to the 1% of people a very thinly spread blanket over the rest of the world. Currently, over half of Americans are on welfare (Shilling 2) and America is one of the richest nations in the world. Consider American welfare rates and the way people are living off that amount of money and then think about the billions of people in this world who live off less than one American’s hourly wage a day.
Sweatshop Labor
Corporations increase profits by going into third world countries and paying underage men and women to work for an incredibly small fraction of a product’s final retail price. Because the people of third world countries have little or no other way to make money, finding a job in a sweatshop and allowing oneself to work for almost nothing seems acceptable, especially when a person is 14 and has a family to feed. Corporations are able to claim that they are helping these nations to develop by pointing to statistics but “real development would mean ending the system whereby rich nations continue to ‘under develop’ poor nations by consuming a huge proportion of the world’s resources, while multinational corporations grossly underpay Third World workers” (Leacock 1). Sadly, greed continues to prevail over and control those in power, human rights are not taken into account, whenever someone is making enough money. In one instance in 2005 in Indonesia, Adidas fired 33 workers for requesting a pay raise when inflation in the economy took place (Oxfam int. 1). Their actions were found to be illegal but Adidas still chose to fight the case, which seems a bit absurd considering the average corporate CEO is payed about $9 billion a year (Executive Paywatch, Answerbag 1), compared to the few cents an hour their sweatshop workers make. This shows that some of those who have obtained a high social status have become very estranged from what others would say is ‘really important’. They ignore the people whose jobs they rely on, treating them like tools for their own selfish economic purposes. The quality of human life has been objectified to the level of the inanimate objects they are producing.
Environmental Damage
In addition to taking advantage of the people in third world countries, these companies also take advantage of the natural resources found there and all over the world. Two obvious examples of corporations blatantly disregarding the environment are of course, the oil industry and secondly, the endless mining for diamonds and other resources in Africa. Shell, an oil company that advertises itself as being environmentally friendly, has faced many consequences for it’s infringements upon laws such as The Clean Air Act (Wikipedia 1) and the use of oil in general is a known cause of the depletion of Earth’s ozone layer. In addition, every year about 6 billion tons of petroleum enters Earth’s water supply and oil spills and sewage treatment plants pollute over 5% of the water in the ocean (Pavlova 3). Water is completely essential to all life on Earth, it is the unique quality of this planet, the sole reason existence is possible here and nowhere else in our solar system. It seems like many human beings, especially those in corporate positions forget water’s necessity because it is so taken for granted, but fresh water will run out without a change of attitude towards its importance. On-land environmental destruction is just as rampant and undeniably connected to water pollution, as well. Companies mining for diamonds, metals, and other underground resources contribute greatly to deforestation, driving many animals out of their homes, contribution to endangerment and extinction of both flora and fauna. Varieties of foreign chemicals become introduced to areas during the mining process and they find their way into the ground and water supplies. Rivers and streams also become polluted, turning into more dirt and chemicals than water, killing aquatic life. The waste generated by mining activities is sometimes carelessly disposed of, creating wonderful breading grounds for disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes, a huge concern in developing countries (Bose 1). Therefore, it is not only people being directly affected by the carelessness of a few, but also the entire planet. This seems hysterically unfair considering the earth should belong to everyone and we all rely on it much more than any amount of money could compensate for. Money is only an object with perceived value; natural resources have a distinct purpose in our lives. Money, something that is essentially imaginary has become human’s biggest fixation, a lie that is keeping us alive, a distraction to lead people into feeding capitalism instead of giving the Earth what it needs.
Political Corruption
Those who make most of the world’s decisions and sell the most products; the corporations and governments, seem to be the most corrupt by the money distraction. To make their way around laws and regulations corporations will bribe officials in developing, or third world countries to ‘look the other way’ in regards to whatever infringements that company is making. This tactic works because these countries are already in such desperate financial situations the want for wealth can overshadow any ethical thoughts, bribery becomes “just another business expense” (truth-it 2). These actions are readily swept under the rug in corporations’ western homelands because it’s not only third world officials being bribed; politicians and government officials in the west are also given money in their campaigns and under the table to support corporate production. The definition of Democracy is “Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their agents in a free electoral system” (dictionary 2). The United States, claiming a democratic title operates as a capitalist economy, though, defined as “an economic system based on a free market, open competition, profit private ownership of the means of production, capitalism encourages private investment business, compared to a government-controlled economy” (dictionary 2). Capitalism is the underlying American Dream; that anyone no matter how poor has an equal opportunity to pursue and gain as much money as he wants. However, seeking a balance the government decided to have some say in the matter for the interest of all the countries residence. Therefore; because the United States operates under a democratic electoral system, not a capitalist government, actions like corporate bribery are a betrayal to that democratic system, allowing private interests to infiltrate the publics elected officials decisions. When these dishonest actions begin to happen, some of the government officials no longer serve the common man, but begin to serve themselves and an uncommon elite. Leaving the average citizen, who does not have the money to bribe their way into what they want, floundering under those in power who sometimes begin to see only the people with money as worthwhile.
Local Economies Disappearing
Because of corporate bribery and secret control, local businesses and economies are rapidly disappearing underneath parking lots and strip malls. Home-owned or local businesses can’t afford to offer the low prices that corporations like Wal-Mart or McDonald’s do because the cost of American labor is more than foreign production-upping the final retail prices. People can become less inclined to buy these more expensive products for a few reasons; they are uneducated about the corruption behind the products they are buying, it is more convenient to go to a corporate store, or they cannot afford to buy honestly made products even if they are educated on the subject. The problem with disinclination to support local businesses is; as corporations come in with their powerful word and excessive cash, they take away economic say from the common man, who is trying to make a living, and steal the power into their own hands (Berry 1). The government used to limit corporate reign in attempt to protect local business but the majority of these attempts are no longer in effect (Berry 1). Corporations often advertise their products with emphasis on how much selection there is but as local-owned, truly unique stores and products are put out of business, peoples’ real selection dwindles daily. Citizens are loosing the means and the choice to shop anywhere but a corporate store, incapable of any other decision than to support corrupt systems and “become helplessly dependent on an economy over which they have no control” (Berry 3). Ordinary people are loosing the ability to control what they eat, what they buy, and where to buy it in cities and suburbs due to the corporate headlock on land, food, and clothing.
CURRENT SOLUTIONS
Due to current mass-political corruption, very few solutions are in place to combat corporate rule. The most common steps are personal life choices made by individuals in hopes one by one the effort will add up for a difference. Many of these people are part of the anti-globalization movement, battling world trade and organizations like Monsanto, the National Monetary Fund and the World Bank because they are aware of the corruption in these institutions and the abuse of human and/or animal rights associated with them.
Personal Life Choices
A few life decisions are: the choice to be vegan or vegetarian, not watching television, shopping at 2nd hand stores, and buying products locally (as opposed to from Japan, India, or China) (corporations.org 4).
This solution, while it does make a minuscule difference is not making an actual impact on the situation because the majority of people are not willing to drastically change their lifestyles at this point. However awareness is spreading; as of 2009 7.3 million Americans are vegetarian (Vegetarian Times 1) and about 2% of Americans choose to live their lives without television (Moskowitz 1). These sort of lifestyle changes are often considered a ‘hippie’ way of life and have only been around in the public eye since about the 60’s but the dramatic incline towards vegetarianism is one sign that people are beginning to catch on, even if it’s not necessarily to battle corporate evil.
Activism
Another solution society is using is protesting and activism against corporations, environmental damage, and animal-rights offenses. Activism comes in the form of artwork, books, and films such as the movie, The Corporation or Naomi Klein’s book, No Logo (Wikipedia 2). Protests and Boycotts are often organized over the internet; these can be protests against individual stores like Wal-Mart or large scale protests against globalist organizations like the WTO. The November/December 1999 protest against the World Trade Organization in Seattle is an example where activism truly did make a difference. About 40,000 people rallied against the WTO on November 30, making it the 2d biggest World Trade protest ever (Wikipedia 1). Activists of all kinds blocked off intersections, streets, and hotels around the area of the meeting, preventing the participants of the WTO from reaching their destinations. These protests continued through December 4, when the WTO ended their meeting and left (Thomas 8). Many people were arrested and/or injured in this event but in the end their goal was met and the ordeal made it to the front page of The Seattle Times when the conference was called off (Thomas 8). Although not all protests are this large this shows that they can make a difference if enough people are aware of the events and decide to get involved for a greater good.
NEW SOLUTIONS
Regulation of Wages
My first proposal for making a difference in the ways corporations are regulated and operated is imposing a minimum wage for all third world citizens working for American corporations. This means if an American corporation chooses to use out-of-the country labor they will still have to pay those workers a fair price, the way they would if they were paying American citizens seven or eight dollars an hour as opposed to ten cents.
Corporations have plenty of money to make this change, especially if they stop paying their CEOs tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses. If corporatioins don’t want to have upper-level budget cuts then they can raise the final retail price of their products, however this might discourage consumers from purchasing whatever’s being sold. This subject is only a matter of moving numbers around, there is an excess of money in these institutions so no money would need to be raised or gained.
The United States Federal Government would have to pass a law explaining the imposed minimum wage for each third world country. Seeing as these countries are for the most part still in development this law would have to be highly regulated and accounted for by American government workers. These workers would be placed in each corporation for the sole purpose of keeping track of the money going to the third world citizens. This creates jobs in the United State’s economy, as well as helps third world countries economies to expand quickly. A new bureau may have to be formed in our House that specializes in third world workers’ rights-beyond simple foreign economic policy because we would not be overseeing the trade aspect, only the workers conditions and wages, the way any workplace in our own country is looked over.
The support needed to make this kind of push would need to come greatly from the workers and American consumers. The citizens in 3d world countries would need to start going on large-scale strikes, demanding American wages for American products. If the strikes were large enough they would be highly effective; corporations would be crashing to the ground quite quickly if they didn’t pay up fast because they rely so heavily on these peoples’ labor to feed their consumers. This would take a lot of dedication on the workers’ part, however, because while their wages are extremely low it is what they live off of, every day of not working can mean a day of not eating. The people in third world countries would have to realize what they were fighting for could really be worth it and make an astounding difference to the world’s economic future. As for American consumers; they would have to take similar action with nation-wide boycotts and protests against companies with known human rights abuse records. There would also need to be people who were politically active, writing letters and using whatever connections they had to get to those at the top as quickly as possible. If enough people were willing to be involved in this kind of activism things could change very quickly, but it all depends on the masses. If the corporations are losing both their production factor and their income in large quantities they will have lost everything, but it would be crucial both sides worked simultaneously.
Separation from World Trade
My second proposal to solve these corporate-issues in greater entirety is to have America completely drop out of the World Trade Organization and all our world markets and international investments. The idea of a corporation is tightly laced into the concept of globalization and to completely fight one you have to fight the other. Many people would argue that this is completely unrealistic but I would say that those people are not willing to make sacrifices in their lives to improve the wellbeing of this planet and all its residents. “The WTO's goal is `free trade', meaning the removal of restrictions on the market that prevent the free flow of goods” (fluff 1). The idea of trade without regulation is the trunk of our tree (so to speak). There is already far too little regulation on the production and trade of products and that is why the world is suffering for the actions of some corporate leaders playing with money, land, and people appearing to think life is a game of monopoly.
No money would be needed to drop out of the WTO but the fear behind dropping out is that America’s entire economy would collapse. In one sense this fear is true, we rely very heavily upon imported goods, everything from food, to oil, to clothes. America has become incredibly dependant on the rest of the world; however I do not believe we have our grave completely dug yet. Once again, the issue is simply one of rearrangement. There would be plenty of land to grow or produce enough food for America if factory farming was decreased because currently an enormous amount of land is dedicated solely to growing food for animals that exist only to be slaughtered. In addition, if our government was willing to legalize the growth of hemp and the production of its many products we could get everything from paper to fiber for clothes or even car oil from this highly resourceful plant.
The choice to drop out of the World Trade Organization is a huge one and would be left up to a vote in our Federal Government. However, once again, if enough people were willing to get involved in activism, protesting the United State’s participation in world trade that could make all the difference.
This is where personal sacrifice comes in. A very large majority of Americans would have to get behind an idea like this before it would even be considered, and that takes a considerable amount of effort in one’s daily life. The kinds of changes that would need to be made would be to completely stop buying from anywhere but local businesses, while those businesses in turn would have to maintain the integrity not to sell out and become a franchise, watching no or only public television, completely ending the use of cars, or using them to a very minimal extent, and being vocal and active about why it’s important to not support globalization or international companies. Education on the issues related to corporate abuse is crucial, the more people know and the more people who get involved the more things can really change.
Therefore; from third world laborers to American politicians things need to change and can change with effort, understanding, and sacrifice when people begin to see what is truly important in life. It is not an easy problem to tackle, this takes millions of people with vast amounts of dedication to make changes but slowly and surely, it can happen. It is happening but there need to be more people on board so get up, get out, and do your daily part to make a change, and always remember that no effort, no matter how small is ever wasted.