Pondoyo, Christine Lyka M.

September 25, 2018

TCW TTh 7:30-9:00 EO336

“The Corporation” is a documentary film that talks about the nature, evolution, and
impacts of the corporation. At the beginning of the film, it was established that the corporation is
today’s dominant institution. Its presence is prevalent in all our lives. According to Dr. Robert
Hare’s diagnosis, the corporation is a prototypical psychopath because, in their nature, they
pursue their own desires without considering other people, without a moral conscience.
Knowledge about the corporation’s case histories, monstrous obligations, mindset, boundary
issues, and basic training could explain why it is considered a psychopathic person.
Case histories revealed that the corporations caused harm to workers, human health,
animals, and the biosphere. Corporations harm workers and according to Charles Kernaghan,
sweatshop abuses common knowledge. For instance, a statement in a product’s tag saying that a
portion of the profit will be donated to children charities but it’s ironic that the children
themselves work to create the product. On the other hand, Michael Walker says we should look
at a different point of view. Sweatshops like Nike’s factories help the world’s poor have work
and save them from hunger. For me, it is not worth it and not worker-centered because according
to a study, Nike only pays 8 cents every 6.6 minutes, and a woman interviewed revealed that her
salary is not enough to support her family. Corporations harm human health and according to Dr.
Samuel Epstein, we are in the era where cancer is epidemic. The industry is responsible for this
epidemic because of the synthesis of new chemicals that harm human health. I agree because
industries were overwhelmed with the new possibilities that they have not carefully looked at the
adverse effects of the chemical era. Corporations harm animals and Steve Wilson and Jane Akre
tried to inform the public about Monsanto’s synthetic hormone rBGH used in cows to produce
more milk but causes unnecessary pain and distress to the cows. Corporations harm the
biosphere because factories release so much waste as they produce more and more products. The
waste pollutes land, water, and air.
The monstrous external obligations of corporations involve preserving the environment
and concerning themselves to the general welfare of the people. Sam Gibara says that
corporations today have more power than governments, this is the consequence of modern
capitalism. I agree because, in capitalism, private institutions gain power that exists through the
exploitation of the majority working class and their labor. This and the fact that CEO’s make
decisions without considerations because they are ‘expected’ to do so, results in irresponsibility.
Some CEO’s know they can still take care of the environment and an instance was Shell’s, in the
movie there was a newspaper clipping that says Shell is protecting diversity.
The mindset of the corporations is, according to Dr. Vandana Shiva, so much higher
profits. I agree because as I’ve explained above, corporations do not consider the adverse effects
of their actions as long as they would gain profit out from it. Mark Barry, a corporate spy,
deceives corporate executives to extract information from them, on behalf of the competitor.
Corporations look desperate when they do that, but they are very competitive and aggressive that
the information from other corporations are very valuable so that they can work out a strategy
that counters other competitors and gather more customers than them as much as possible. The
bottom line is, they just want money.
The boundary issues are for me, scary. According to Jeremy Rifkin, at the past, people in
Europe belonged to the land, but the land did not belong to them, because the people are just
fulfilling their role as stewards of God’s creation, it was easier for the corporations to exploit
them to work. Also, Elaine Bernard points out that today, wealth is only created privately, that is
when somebody barricaded a place and mentioned we need to determine that there are certain
things that shouldn’t be bought and sold. Maude Barlow also guessed that someday, everything
will be owned by somebody, not just goods, but also human rights, public health, etc. I fear for
this day to come, I could not accept a world of many restrictions which are created by humans
just like us.
Basic training of corporations includes, according to Dr. Susan Linn, manipulating
children to buy their products. Most of the parents whose Kids nag them to buy something, buy it
for their kids. I would agree that this is called exploiting children’s developmental vulnerabilities
because children, being young, do not really know what they are doing. Since they are exposed
to advertisements, it affects their natural development because their preferences at a young age
might be affected and will be carried as he grows up.
The social responsibilities of global corporations include donating with charities which
can be done when a corporation chooses a charity to support, do all the legal processes, and
make sure that their statement in price tags saying a portion of their profit will be donated is
legit. The second responsibility is improving labor policies such as working conditions and
vacation time which can be done by conducting a survey to the employees and creating new
policies that correspond with their answers. The third responsibility is participating in
environmental cleanups which can be done when corporations actively collaborate with
environmental organizations and support the cleaning activities using manpower and money.
After watching the film, I felt mixed emotions. I was mad because corporations exploit
workers, harms human health, animals, and the environment. I was happy because some
corporations like Shell and Philip Morris fulfilled a social responsibility. I was afraid because a
day would come when the world already has many restrictions which are created by humans just
like us. I was bothered because even children are manipulated, and their developmental
vulnerabilities are exploited. However, it has been a nice documentary film that widened my
mind about the impacts of corporations. From now on, I will not immerse myself too much with
corporation services, only buying products that I really need, and do my part to help by reporting
illegal and immoral activities I could ever witness from corporations.