02-03-2009, 06:04 PM
Look, as much as I share your contempt with some of the unsavoury practices of behemoth sized corporations and corrupt governments.
For some business, I actually agree that a serious look and revamp of the mom&pop model might actually be a more profitable way to go. For others, it can't work. Some aspects of it can, but there are real limitations. Most modern nations economies do have co-dependent relationships.
I'm not someone who believes globalization is a force of benign prosperity all the time, but most of the world's economy is now a global one whether we like it or not. It was already heading that way the moment someone put sails on a boat, it's just with modern technology the pace and scale has dramatically increased. And if you want your shift to a new info\skill based economy, globalization will probably be again part and parcel of that.
But getting back to topic, I don't see most corporations as outright evil. I do see them more as a-moral. I try to support Costco over Walmart when I can, because I like how they treat their employees over Walmart. It might be a drop in the ocean, but at least it's my drop. With enough of it, even the most tone deaf corporations might hear it.
Like KFC dropping trans fat oil.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...Id=6407183
Not that I buy the good Colonel's chicken everyday or anything, but it is possible to change a corporation's tune if you can speak in their language of the dollar.
As for the too cozy relationship between big money and government, I'm not quite cynical enough to believe all is lost. Hard money reforms (and more importantly the enforcement of it) IMO goes a long way towards correcting the system. Soft money is a dangerous loophole, but at least I see some signs that people do want to see that fixed too.
Anyhow, I'm bowing out since I got some studies and more laundry to do. But thanks for the reply, it's one of the clearer ones I've read lately.