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Mankind: Death by Corporation
Wednesday, 26 June 2013 00:22
By Dr Brian Moench, Truthout | Op-Ed
The word "corporation," derived from the Latin corporare, means to physically embody. In his History of the Corporation, Bruce Brown notes how in the first thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire, "the world's most powerful corporations were all trying to embody the Christian God." In 1534, Saint Thomas More spoke of Jesus Christ as the ultimate corporation. "He (Jesus) doth . . . incorporate all christen folke and hys owne bodye together in one corporacyon mistical."
Needless to say, in the 21st century, corporations as creations of civilization make no pretense of embodying the Christian God. In fact, today, corporations come much closer to embodying Mary Shelley's Frankenstein than Jesus Christ. Ironically, created by and managed by humans, corporations have become almost robotic monsters, perpetrating, even feeding off human misery, threatening every aspect of human life - the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat - and even the future of mankind itself. What have these corporate Frankenstein monsters done for us lately?
At least 1,127 people have died in a collapsed garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the deadliest such accident in world history. As of this writing, the largest American clothing corporations, Gap, Walmart and Target, who are end users of these death-trap factories, are still unwilling to commit to any safety improvements. Fifteen people were killed and over 200 injured in West, Texas, from an explosion at a fertilizer plant. Despite the deaths of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary school, no meaningful legislation to subdue ongoing gun slaughter in the United States will get passed.
All of these recent tragic headlines have a common denominator. Corporate profits were, and are, allowed primacy over all other considerations. Even Wayne LaPierre's foaming-at-the-mouth speech about freedom, liberty and second amendment rights is a smokescreen for ginning up profits for gun manufacturers, because American gun owners are on a steady, 30-year decline. The death certificate of all these victims - at Dhaka, West and Sandy Hook - should read, "Death by corporation." .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/17178-mankind-death-by-corporation
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Admiral Loinpresser
(3,859 posts)Appointing foxes to regulate the hen house.
"The consensus among scientists at the FDA was that GMOs are dangerous, but key Monsanto executives, appointed to federal agencies under multiple administrations, including Obama's, squashed that information. For example, Obama appointed Michael Taylor, Monsanto's former vice president, as food safety czar at the FDA. Thats like having a tobacco executive crafting regulations on cigarettes."
forestpath
(3,102 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)CrispyQ
(36,464 posts)Looking forward to part 2:
In part two of "Death by Corporation," we'll talk about the fossil fuel corporations, the nuclear industry, financial, and pharmaceutical corporations and the TransPacific Trade Partnership that is poised to let all of them rule the world like a gang of Frankensteins.
Chaco Dundee
(334 posts)After watching and learning the ways of the Dons,it was but a matter of time for the banksters\corporations to catch on.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)But there is a biblical interpretation of it....it is called in Revelations and Daniel "The Beast"
And the descriptions of The Beast fits the corporate state exactly...but few know that.
But I will not get into that because the religion police will jump all over me, and I can't deal with that now.
ymetca
(1,182 posts)--Aleister Crowley, self-proclaimed "Great Beast 666"
".. all she wants to do is dance" --Don Henley, from the album "Building the Perfect Beast"
Welcome to the Kali-Yuga!
zeemike
(18,998 posts)And that is clear from the discription...
But Crowley was the product of religious fundamentalism so I understand why he made the claim.
ctsnowman
(1,903 posts)Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)The documentary film, "The Corporation" explains in harrowing detail:
http://www.thecorporation.com/
PS: Thank you, marmar, for the heads up on Dr. Moench's work. Geebush!
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)K&R
Very informative OP, marmar. Thanks so much for bringing it to us. The truth is so depressing, but I would rather know it than not.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)are waiting and hoping For America to wake up. And stay that way.
K&R!!! Thank you marmar.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)They will continue to wait until we see some radical changes, here. Radical changes like restoring basic democracy.
Do we hear Democrats speaking up to say we must stop the undue influence of corporations on our elections? Not many. Do we hear them saying we must restore fairness to the media? We do not. This should be the unifying theme of the Democratic Party.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom