I was listening to NPR today and there was a discussion that was very interesting.
It was all about how Hugo Chavez was battling Exxon Mobil in court over a recent move to make the government of Venezuela the majority owner Big Oil projects in country. I'd rather not get into the whole morass over who is right or who is wrong, but would like to address the idea of power that was seriously brought up on the program. An argument that I make all the time about Exxon Mobil was actually expressed in the media, granted it was on NPR, but these days, there's very little difference between NPR and the Corporate Media, yet another discussion.... Anyway, the point that one of the commentators made was that while we are talking about a country and Exxon Mobil, a company, Exxon Mobil actually had more money power and clout than the country of Venezuela. Exxon Mobil when viewed as an economy is larger and far more influential than the country of Austria. Think about that for a moment... Exxon Mobil is a larger economy than many Western European nations. I don't think Adam Smith had that in mind when he wrote 'Wealth of Nations'. Another thing that I bring up here in Michigan, is that Exxon Mobil makes more in profit in one quarter than the State of Michigan has in it's entire yearly budget. That's a serious problem, IMO. When the Big Oil gets together, or any other serious industry organization, like banking organizations or insurance organizations, they wield far more power, influence, money and clout than most nations on the planet. That's another problem that Adam Smith could not have known about. That kind of scale changes everything, and I don't think many people realize that. Jay, Bhopal was an absolute horror. Thank you for bringing it up. Charles, I think I understand where you are coming from, and in your shoes, the government is definitely a problem, but I don't think that it's government as an institution, but government in practice. I also think that the problem stems from too much freedom for corporations. Corporations are property, not people, and they should not have rights of citizens. I don't think we'll ever resolve this discussion, but I want you to know that I empathize with your position in this situation. Cheers, http://k9disc.blip.tv http://k9disc.com http://discdogradio.com http://pawsitivevybe.com On Feb 13, 2008, at 6:40 PM, Jay dedman wrote: > > The magic of market forces has nothing at all to do with hoping > people > act > > for the good of the whole. That is a strawman argument, for over 200 > years ago > > it was explained "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the > brewer, > > or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to > their > own > > interest. " > > ah....now i know why we arent seeing eye to eye. > you are assuming that all business is local where I get to meet the > person > who makes my goods and services. > The good businessman then makes sure he is a good community citizen to > maintain his profits. > Yes, im all for this. > let freedom ring. > > Unfortunately, we have moved past this time where now global > companies sell > us our goods. > I know you "insist that they give me any deal motivated by > corporate greed > and selfishness", but be careful what you ask for. > Their interests may realize that destroying an entire region is > good for > their business. > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster WHOOPS!) > > A long-term cause of the catastrophe was the location of the plant; > authorities had tried and failed to persuade Carbide to build the > plant away > from densely-populated areas. Carbide explained their refusal on > the expense > that such a move would > incur.[4]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster#_note-Kovel> > > All the libertarian ideals are great, but practical reality has > produced the > likes of Ron Paul....who is stridently anti-abortion. > there's goes my rights! > > jay > > -- > http://jaydedman.com > 917 371 6790 > Professional: http://ryanishungry.com > Personal: http://momentshowing.net > Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/jaydedman/ > Twitter: http://twitter.com/jaydedman > RSS: http://tinyurl.com/yqgdt9 > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
