On Mon, 01 Sep 2014 16:06:10 -0400, Nick Sabalausky
<[email protected]> wrote:
On 9/1/2014 3:11 PM, Russel Winder via Digitalmars-d wrote:
On Mon, 2014-09-01 at 09:43 +0000, monarch_dodra via Digitalmars-d
wrote:
Then again, it takes a certain kind of corporate greed to try to
put a patent on things we'd have never thought of as "inventions".
Aren't corporate and greed synonyms?
No.
That's actually true in much more than just a snide comment sort of way.
A corporation is *legally obligated* to put shareholder profit above all
other concerns. Either they act like greedy f&#ks or they risk getting
the crap sued out of them. The problem is we've permitted, and promoted,
a system where companies are owned by people (shareholders) whose *sole*
interest in the company is purely financial.
Not true. A corporation is run by its managers for the benefit of the
shareholders. It's up to the shareholders to determine the best course of
action, and what the value should be.
I think what you are referring to is public companies, whose shareholder
interest is often purely financial by definition. And yes, there are legal
requirements to put the shareholders' interests above other concerns, but
not ALL other concerns. There are MANY OTHER legal requirements as well.
But as many people may surmise, maximizing profits isn't always the best
course of action for shareholders' interests. There is a reason
shareholders vote, it's to express their position on what the company
should do, and that isn't always "screw all our customers and employees so
we can make a few more bucks."
See e.g. Market Basket.
The *real* role of businesses in a society is to provide worthwhile
goods and/or services. Revenue, and even profit, is ultimately just a
necessary means to that end. But stocks and incorporation flip this
around, to disastrous results.
Please don't confuse publicly traded companies with corporations. The pure
reason for a corporation existence is to shield owners from liability. In
other words, if you sue a corporation, you can only go after the assets of
the corporation, not the assets of its owners. A corporation can be a
company owned by one or 2 people, who simply don't want to risk their
entire family's assets to go into business.
There is a LOT of misinformation and demonization of corporations going on
in the US. It's actually quite sad that people have no idea what they are
fighting for, or who they are demonizing.
And yes, my family owns a corporation.
-Steve
