Corporations are people

[Major]

If corporations are people, are they not therefore slaves to their owners?

Discuss.

 

[dDave]

Very simple.

Corporations enjoy some of the rights of people but not others. They're not actual people, rather corporations are separate entities designed in such a way that the owners are protected in the event of catastrophe.

The whole point of a corporation really comes down to organizational size and liability.

 

[Cait]

I feel if we are going to call corporations people then they should have the same consequences to their actions as people people do. You can't just pick and choose what works for your set of beliefs or what benefits you. (Although that statement makes me chuckle since we're under /religion section.)

 

[idisrsly]

The government has turned people into corporations, so I would rather say people are slaves to their government, or to themselves.

Strawman Why Is Your Name In All Capital Letters? I Only Use Caps For The The First Letter Of My Name!

 

[CaptainObvious]

I feel if we are going to call corporations people then they should have the same consequences to their actions as people people do. You can't just pick and choose what works for your set of beliefs or what benefits you. (Although that statement makes me chuckle since we're under /religion section.)

Such as?


Corporations are legal entities. They have been for many, many years and rightfully so. Without them being legal entities we would collapse, economically.

 

[Major]

Such as the owners and executives being held personally responsible for the damage that their corporations cause to other people or the environment. If a person accidentally starts a wildfire, there are typically criminal charges against them with a severe punishment (like prison time). If an oil company accidentally spills millions of barrels of oil, they pay a fine.

 

[Van]

Such as the owners and executives being held personally responsible for the damage that their corporations cause to other people or the environment. If a person accidentally starts a wildfire, there are typically criminal charges against them with a severe punishment (like prison time). If an oil company accidentally spills millions of barrels of oil, they pay a fine.

I'm a little confused by this...anyone who has a 401k likely owns shares of oil companies that have paid fines for spillage. They should go to jail? They are held responsible. They own a stake in the business thus if there is a major issue their piece gets a little smaller along with everyone else's.

Whether a business caused problems to a person or the environment the most important thing would be that how that business handles it. And what legal action is taken. As long as everything goes through the proper channels, I don't see the problem.

You can make an argument that punishments against businesses in certain conditions should have stricter penalties. But I'm not sure where you're going with saying corporations are people...unless you mean they are simply a conglomeration of thousands of owners.

But even in that case you'd need to distinguish between management and owners. For instance. I own stocks but not nearly enough to influence what any given company does.

 

[Major]

The people who are actually in charge of the company should be held responsible for the damages it causes. The executives, the chairman, whatever. Not the shareholders.

When people are dying in GM vehicles because of poor quality control and cutting corners to save money, someone should be going to prison instead of at worst being fired.

 

[dDave]

The people who are actually in charge of the company should be held responsible for the damages it causes. The executives, the chairman, whatever. Not the shareholders.

When people are dying in GM vehicles because of poor quality control and cutting corners to save money, someone should be going to prison instead of at worst being fired.

Is it really the fault of the people in charge of an oil company that some of their employees made a mistake? That equipment unexpectedly broke down despite proper testing? That's how many oil spills happen. I realize a lot of people (including you) aren't particularly fond of oil companies but they are a business, mistakes do happen, and we do need to be fair to them.

No comment on GM. Something is wrong there.

 

[Major]

Is it really the fault of the people in charge of an oil company that some of their employees made a mistake? That equipment unexpectedly broke down despite proper testing? That's how many oil spills happen. I realize a lot of people (including you) aren't particularly fond of oil companies but they are a business, mistakes do happen, and we do need to be fair to them.

Someone is usually responsible. In the case of railroad oil spills, faulty tank cars that puncture easily when derailed are to blame. Someone is responsible for not upgrading the cars to newer models or retrofitting the old ones.

A lot of pipeline spills are the result of cost-cutting and lack of maintenance, as was also the case with the Deepwater Horizon spill and probably other offshore spills.

The government also needs to do a better job of regulating, because despite what some people like to think, businesses usually will not regulate themselves unless it is more profitable to do so.