Unethical Corporations 5 Companies That Will Destroy Civilization
ὤTṻnde΄ӂ
2011/11/11 00:49:44
The biblical
commandment "Thou shalt not kill" is a bit redundant. Some traits can
be considered inherent in an organism, and the caution against
spontaneous killing is, at least in theory, something humans do not
need to be taught.
But
the more isolated people become, the easier it is to shrug off such
moral stances and assume more selfish ones. If Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations
taught us anything, it is that one's motivation is always
self-centered, and if society should benefit along the way, awesome! But
it's not a prerequisite.
The corporate organism embodies that philosophy. The drive to do good or do right is not part of its DNA. Corporations are predicated on profit, and they thrive on the subsequent power. Power indeed corrupts, especially in the executive suite.
Yet if Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, wants to negotiate with his wholesaler and lower his own prices to beat the competition, more power to him. Innovation and ruthlessness go hand in hand without needing as guide a standard of ethics. Capitalism is a competitive, contact sport. Knock your opponent before he knocks you.
It
is when corporations begin to tool with the natural evolution of the
ecosystems we support -- and those that support us -- that their
behavior becomes ethically dubious. Put a guy out of work because he
can't keep up with you is a bit of natural selection. Put an ecosystem
out of balance by imposing hyper-competitive ideas, and that is
artificial selection by self-serving modern corporate Darwinists, and it threatens to overturn whole populations.
The corporations outlined below stand as examples in their industry; they are by no means alone.
1- The Artificial disaster: Cuadrilla Resources
Cuadrilla
Resources is a "privately held exploration and production company" that
looks for oil and gas in unconventional places using unconventional
means. It has been in the news recently for owning up to having caused
about 50 minor earthquakes in the Blackpool region in England last
spring. The quakes were blamed on the method used to extract shale gas,
which is called fracking or fracing (it's short for fracturing). The
company pumps water and sand into shale in which gas is trapped thousands of feet underground, pries the shale apart and collects that trapped gas.
2- Artificial Selection: Monsanto
Not many corporations can stake a claim to such a rich tradition
of products that are both wildly profitable and extraordinarily toxic
like Monsanto. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) came of age under
Monsanto, then did Agent Orange and, later, aspartame
(the jury's still out on that one). It currently holds tight to
so-called “terminator technology,” which would make farmers slaves to
the company by making sure their crops can only create sterile seeds,
so that they'd need to return to Monsanto every year for a new seed
layer.
3- Artificial Nutrition: Nestle
There is no more pure human relationship than that of mother and infant. The female body
prepares itself to nourish the child, in utero and out. Breastfeeding
is a miraculous thing: It gives the child nutrients and antibody protection,
and establishes a crucial bond between mother and child. It doesn't
make any sense for a corporation to find ways to get between that
relationship.
4- Artificial evolution: SinoHydro
The largest dam builder in China and the world's largest
hydroelectric company, state-owned SinoHydro in China has its hands in
as many as 100 dam projects in 49 other countries -- not to mention
scores of other engineering projects -- and it has under its belt the
biggest, most destructive dam project in human history, China's Three
Gorges Dam.
5- Artificial biology: Advanced Cell Technology (ACT)
To some readers, one of the world leaders in biotechnology is a
perfect fit in this piece. To others, its therapeutic, humanitary aims
should exempt it.
Remember PPL
Therapeutics? That's the group that, after some 200 failed embryos,
gave us Dolly the cloned sheep. ACT has advanced beyond Dolly. In fact,
it is responsible for the first hybrid human embryo clone, which it
stitched together by inserting human DNA into a cow egg (advanced human
embryo clones are now old-hat). The company allowed it to develop for
12 days before killing it. It also was first to successfully clone an
extinct species: ACT brought an ibex to life for a hideous few minutes
before it died of massive pulmonary problems.
For the full article and some video, go here: http://fwd4.me/0gYq
You'd never know from the media coverage that:
The Bush team tried to conditionally approve the Solyndra loan just before President Obama took office.
The company's backers included private investors who had diverse political interests.
The loan comprises just 1.3 percent of the Department of Energy's (DOE) overall loan portfolio. To date, Solyndra is the only loan that's known to be troubled.