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iamnotaparakeet
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26 Jan 2011, 6:07 pm

Megacorporations are, essentially, communist. If you consider their structure of governance it is not the free enterprise, capitalist, system within them. Pure capitalism allows for megacorporations, but within such an organization are the hallmarks of many 20th century dictatorships. I consider the free enterprise system to be at its best when dealing with sole proprietorships and other small business organizations. However, when your business gets large enough to have an HR department I consider it to have basically lost its soul (in a manner of speaking). Megacorporations do well at drowning a market and killing off their competition, similar to the xenomorphs of LV426 in the Aliens quadrilogy.



ruveyn
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26 Jan 2011, 6:08 pm

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Megacorporations are, essentially, communist. If you consider their structure of governance it is not the free enterprise, capitalist, system within them. Pure capitalism allows for megacorporations, but within such an organization are the hallmarks of many 20th century dictatorships. I consider the free enterprise system to be at its best when dealing with sole proprietorships and other small business organizations. However, when your business gets large enough to have an HR department I consider it to have basically lost its soul (in a manner of speaking). Megacorporations do well at drowning a market and killing off their competition, similar to the xenomorphs of LV426 in the Aliens quadrilogy.


What happens inside of some extended families is communism to. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

ruveyn



iamnotaparakeet
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26 Jan 2011, 6:16 pm

ruveyn wrote:
iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Megacorporations are, essentially, communist. If you consider their structure of governance it is not the free enterprise, capitalist, system within them. Pure capitalism allows for megacorporations, but within such an organization are the hallmarks of many 20th century dictatorships. I consider the free enterprise system to be at its best when dealing with sole proprietorships and other small business organizations. However, when your business gets large enough to have an HR department I consider it to have basically lost its soul (in a manner of speaking). Megacorporations do well at drowning a market and killing off their competition, similar to the xenomorphs of LV426 in the Aliens quadrilogy.


What happens inside of some extended families is communism to. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

ruveyn


In the case of my stepdad and my mom, it is rather: "From each of you according to your ability multiplied by 100, to each of us according to our wants."

Ben



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26 Jan 2011, 7:51 pm

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Megacorporations are, essentially, communist. If you consider their structure of governance it is not the free enterprise, capitalist, system within them. Pure capitalism allows for megacorporations, but within such an organization are the hallmarks of many 20th century dictatorships. I consider the free enterprise system to be at its best when dealing with sole proprietorships and other small business organizations. However, when your business gets large enough to have an HR department I consider it to have basically lost its soul (in a manner of speaking). Megacorporations do well at drowning a market and killing off their competition, similar to the xenomorphs of LV426 in the Aliens quadrilogy.

Interestingly, corporations are an interesting area in economic theory. There are a lot of theories about why they exist. I can't remember much off the top of my head, other than the Coaseian view.



zer0netgain
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27 Jan 2011, 9:00 am

Megacorps are basically NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations).

As a rule, the wield more power than the most powerful nations in the world and are pretty much accountable to nobody for their actions.

The UN can get more done by getting NGOs to embrace a policy than trying to get nations to sign onto treaties.

When something is so large and powerful it can tell governments what to do...it is a bad thing.



AngelRho
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27 Jan 2011, 9:57 am

zer0netgain wrote:
Megacorps are basically NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations).

As a rule, the wield more power than the most powerful nations in the world and are pretty much accountable to nobody for their actions.

The UN can get more done by getting NGOs to embrace a policy than trying to get nations to sign onto treaties.

When something is so large and powerful it can tell governments what to do...it is a bad thing.


You mean like "too big to fail"?



pandabear
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27 Jan 2011, 10:10 am

Heavens! You are a bunch of Liberals!

Without megacorporations, who would finance conservative politicians?



iamnotaparakeet
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27 Jan 2011, 10:16 am

pandabear wrote:
Heavens! You are a bunch of Liberals!

Without megacorporations, who would finance conservative politicians?


Taxpayers in general compulsorily finance all politicians. Without megacorporations making a bad example of capitalism, who would vote for Democrats? To Hell with megacorporations.



hightechdan
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27 Jan 2011, 12:52 pm

zer0netgain wrote:
Megacorps are basically NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations).

As a rule, the wield more power than the most powerful nations in the world and are pretty much accountable to nobody for their actions.

The UN can get more done by getting NGOs to embrace a policy than trying to get nations to sign onto treaties.

When something is so large and powerful it can tell governments what to do...it is a bad thing.


Think about what those NGOs get in return for embracing government policy. It's a symbiotic relationship that keeps ratcheting up the power and wealth of governments and huge corporations. I am extremely suspicious of any apparent fighting between them because they have their own goals that don't include my safety or prosperity.



zer0netgain
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27 Jan 2011, 1:09 pm

hightechdan wrote:
zer0netgain wrote:
Megacorps are basically NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations).

As a rule, the wield more power than the most powerful nations in the world and are pretty much accountable to nobody for their actions.

The UN can get more done by getting NGOs to embrace a policy than trying to get nations to sign onto treaties.

When something is so large and powerful it can tell governments what to do...it is a bad thing.


Think about what those NGOs get in return for embracing government policy. It's a symbiotic relationship that keeps ratcheting up the power and wealth of governments and huge corporations. I am extremely suspicious of any apparent fighting between them because they have their own goals that don't include my safety or prosperity.


Perhaps, but when you consider most rules of law restrict governments and not private entities, mega corporations can get away with things that the government would not be allowed to do. Enables a nice back door to get around limitations by letting a corporation handle the dirty work.



Fuzzy
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27 Jan 2011, 1:44 pm

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Megacorporations are, essentially, communist. If you consider their structure of governance it is not the free enterprise, capitalist, system within them. Pure capitalism allows for megacorporations, but within such an organization are the hallmarks of many 20th century dictatorships. I consider the free enterprise system to be at its best when dealing with sole proprietorships and other small business organizations. However, when your business gets large enough to have an HR department I consider it to have basically lost its soul (in a manner of speaking). Megacorporations do well at drowning a market and killing off their competition, similar to the xenomorphs of LV426 in the Aliens quadrilogy.


It sounds more like you mean Oligarchy.

Other than that I agree with you.


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Sand
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27 Jan 2011, 7:12 pm

All businesses are essentially totalitarian. By the absolute power of the salary which is an essential to staying well fed and housed plus other basics a business can dictate how you live, how you dress, what you can freely talk about and how you behave. The theory is that one can always quit and find another job but in practice the average guy with a family to support and great personal responsibilities it pretty much totally beholden to his employer. Well paying jobs are not easy to get.



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27 Jan 2011, 7:14 pm

^ So true
I see mega-corporations as the greatest threat to free-market capitalism and a positive future for humanity



iamnotaparakeet
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27 Jan 2011, 8:55 pm

Sand wrote:
All businesses are essentially totalitarian. By the absolute power of the salary which is an essential to staying well fed and housed plus other basics a business can dictate how you live, how you dress, what you can freely talk about and how you behave. The theory is that one can always quit and find another job but in practice the average guy with a family to support and great personal responsibilities it pretty much totally beholden to his employer. Well paying jobs are not easy to get.


Here's a rare instance: I agree with you completely on this topic.



ruveyn
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27 Jan 2011, 10:08 pm

Sand wrote:
All businesses are essentially totalitarian. By the absolute power of the salary which is an essential to staying well fed and housed plus other basics a business can dictate how you live, how you dress, what you can freely talk about and how you behave. The theory is that one can always quit and find another job but in practice the average guy with a family to support and great personal responsibilities it pretty much totally beholden to his employer. Well paying jobs are not easy to get.


Then don't work for them and don't buy from them. Problem solved.

ruveyn



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27 Jan 2011, 11:01 pm

Well, corporations used to work on a socialist model, meaning that you would remain loyal to your corporation thoughout your life, and, in exchange, your employer would provide you with health insurance and a pension.

In other countries, the government took over the role of providing health insurance and pensions.

Most corporations no longer provide pensions--employees are supposed to look after themselves. Which means that employees are less beholden to any particular employer. More freedom, less evil socialism.