Corporate Charades
Part 3 of 3: All the Rest
The first two essays were about corporations’ pretenses of being ethical and of being socially responsible respectively by having programs bearing those names, all the while their normal corporate behavior is unethical and socially irresponsible. This third and last essay in the series shines a brief “slime light” on all the rest of the charades corporations have in their bag of dirty tricks. They are in this order: philanthropy, general counsel, governance, investor relations, public relations, advertising and marketing, customer relations and service, human resources and employee relations, and finally, the biggest charade of them all, corporate personhood.
Philanthropy
“Philanthrôpía,” to the ancient Greeks meant “love of humanity.” Turning this ancient meaning on its head and vulgarizing it is “corporate philanthropy.” Its roots in America can probably be traced to the robber barons of the Gilded Age. They robbed America and gave a tiny bit back, perhaps as guilt gifts, but more likely as insurance against civil revolt as millions of Americans were in abject poverty, just as they are today. Corporations now, with the aid of our government, are the robber barons of the Ruinous Age because they are robbing America and the world while ruining all facets of ordinary life.
The most honorable form of giving may be anonymous giving that makes a positive difference, but there is nothing anonymous or positive about corporate giving. Corporations can’t get their tax benefits if the government doesn’t know they gave. And the public wouldn’t know, which is, of course,
