Aime Hernandez

Jennifer Williams
ENG 102
16 December, 2014
Who Holds The Power
In The Corporation, Abbot and Achbar aim to inform the audience of the harm and damage
that corporations have caused not only to the people, but also to animals and our environment.
They use example upon example to show the different negative effects the these monstrosities
that call themselves a company have done to todays world. Corporations are artificial creations;
they are monsters trying to devour as much profit possible at anyones expense. In the film,
corporations are compared to a whale due to its tendency to swallow consumers whole or
Frankensteins monster because of its capacity to overpower us. The film accomplishes this view
of corporations by focusing on three very controversial topics; human rights, animal abuse, and
the environment.
One example that is used in the film is how corporations have become inconsiderate to the
people and the conditions in which they work. Many companies, such as Walmart, sold jeans that
advertised how portions of their profit went to charities or to children in need. What the public
does not know is that there are under age kids working in the sweat shops that produce these so
called charitable jeans. In other countries, workers barely make enough money to afford three
meals a day. In one instance, Nike only paid workers in a particular factory 3/10 of 1% of the
companys entire profit. This means that if Nike made one million dollars that year, the workers

in that shop only made$3000. Divide that by all of the workers in the entire factory. There is no
way that by the time the money is divided that each worker made enough to live off of.
Not only do these corporations take advantage of cheap labor, but they also overlook the
health issues that the people are exposed to. Posilac, produced by an agriculture giant, is an
injection used on cows to help produce more milk. Unfortunately, this sometimes causes
infection of the utter which is dangerous for both the cows and the consumer. While in the
process of milking, puss in the utters can end up in the milk, which raises the bacteria count in
the milk and in turn can harm those who consume it. People all around the United States drink it
and it has been proven that over the years it can bring about multiple different health concerns.
An example that was given in the video, "If I take a gun and shoot you, thats criminal. But if I
expose you to some chemicals which knowingly are going to kill you, what difference is there?
The difference is that it takes longer to kill you"(The Corporation). Now compare this quote to
the use of Posilac in Americas milk supply. Although dairy farms and the FDA know that this
product is bad for human consumption, they are still allowing it. In short, they are committing
mass murder by allowing this to go on.
The treatment of our dairy cows in the USA is easily overlooked for many people as they
often forget that we share the earth with other living creatures. This neglect can make many
forget the harm that is being done. As previously stated, Posilac is harmful to the people who
consume the milk it helps produce. If this is true, imagine the pain that those cows are being put
through. There have been cases where the cows injected with that hormone have massively
swollen utters that make it very difficult for them to get around and can be very painful. Factory
farming has become synonymous with animal abuse and the cruel conditions that these cows

endure only exemplify this. The dairy and food industry only strives to maximize output while
minimizing costs-always at the animals expense.
Humans are largely responsible for animal extinctions and endangerments. Corporations
destroy the natural environment of many living things when they fill swamps and rivers with
waste. This has been devastating for many species of fish and birds. These animals, and more,
have been seen with birth defects or deformities. Robert Monks (corporation governance
advisor), witnessed a paper mill disposing waste into the river. This shows that even people that
are directly involved with corporations do not always know of the destruction that is occurring.
Over centuries we have taken the ground, then the water, and finally the air. One activist
states that "pollution is the introduction of contamination into the environment that cause harm
or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or the damage that come in the form of
chemical substance, or energy such as noise, heat or light" (Irina Gray of Tropical-RainforestAnimal.com). Air pollution affects can include asthma, irritation of eyes, and disruption of the
immune system. Water pollution can cause skin rashes, allergies, water borne infections,
vomiting, stomach aches and so on. It is said that by 2025 we will no longer have fresh drinking
water. Were leaving a terrible legacy of poisoning and diminishing the environment". There is
no doubt that that cars are a major impact in global warming, think about all the chemicals and
fuel that requires for a car to run and the amount of vehicles that are produce each year by
manufacturers. Because of things like this, the world is facing environmental challenges as well
as long term damage.
At one point in the film, the point is made that a corporation is to benefit and serve the
owners, not the public or workers. Although this is how it is, this isnt how it is supposed to be.

Joe Badaracco (professor at Harvard) stated that a corporation is a group of individuals working
together, to serve a variety of objectives. The principle objective is earning large, growing,
sustained, legal returns for the people who own the business. So the question is , who really
holds the power and who runs the government? Because the public funds corporations through
their products or services, the public should hold the power.