U.S. Corporate Governance, Part IV: The Worst of the Invisible Individual

To summarize the last three posts:

1.) A corporation is a legal person with Constitutional due process protections.
2.) The actual owners of the corporation are generally not liable outside a few exceptions that are rarely applicable.
3.) A corporation is legally obligated to attempt to influence the law to better suit its revenue-generating models.
4.) The resulting law does not also benefit real people, or the vast majority of the population--this includes the people who cause it. (Remember, their fiduciary duty puts their own interests behind the interests of the corporation.)

Again, many do not see the connection between these motivations and our every day lives. Let me illustrate one possibility:

I believe one of the more frightening examples of a terrible confluence of these factors involves the NSA spying program, which seems to indiscriminately record, or troll for data (without warrants). This was carried out with the help of the large telecom corporations. Please excuse my lack of links on the subject. The legal implications of the NSA program are well documented on Unclaimed Territory. While privacy is not the issue on the forefront here, it is the one that will be most easily swept away once the provisions of FISA have been gutted and that may occur later this year provided the GOP keeps control of the Congress. Even so, as I mentioned previously, a corporation has a strong incentive to act unlawfully. The corporation cannot be sentenced to jail and any regulatory fines can be justified as a cost of doing business should a judge and often, the Supreme Court, disagree with its conclusions.

I think it is obvious that the technology exists, and it appears that the once these legal hurdles have been cleared, the entities branded as friendly and responsible citizens will be poised to dramatically change the nature of our society. Remember, a corporation is not a person. It cannot stop at the edge of the cliff and think about looking down. If there is anyway to make money by jumping, it will go over the edge without ever slowing down. In fact, the directors are legally obligated to make sure it jumps at full speed.

First it's swiping your card with Paypass. A receipt comes to you in the mail letting you know what they charged. The convenience is the most ultra of all comforts. No worry about ID theft. No thought of losing your credit card and showing up at the bar the next day to pick up your lost Visa.

The level of security in government buildings will be the first to install these advancements. The cost of ensuring the safety of our elected officials and our independent judiciary is easy to justify. However, the largest corporations will soon follow suit under the same justification, which is much more tenuous. Soon enough, you will be scanned and electronically searched when you walk into the grocery store. You will be told that the social value of protecting the local supermarket is higher than any inconvenience you experience. If you don't like it, you will be told to stay out of the store.

The convenience is mind-blowing, but comes with a sinister cost. Everything you own is also scanned: everything in your pocket, your clothes, description, possessions, and everything else is documented. Your position is mapped and recorded; every action that makes up your life can be known. Crime will virtually disappear. Political dissent will dry up before anyone notices. Free elections will become unnecessary because we will be able serve the state through other means. The only remaining corporation and the government will finally merge in an effort to protect us, keep us secure, rid the world of evil-doers. You can imagine the efficiencies that will be created.

It's not a revolution or a takeover--rarely do tyrannical regimes usurp power transparently with the tacit approval of the people. It's a process, all leading toward a terrible finale. Complete security will arrive at the cost of complete tyranny, complete control, complete uniformity, and a completely mediocre, banal, and uneventful world. It will be a gradual process and if you don't believe it can happen in the U.S., you are not paying attention. It is happening right now. And about 50% of us welcome this result blissfully.