The corporation -synopsis
this documentary is a timely, critical inquiry that examines the very nature of the corporation-its inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. It shows that under the law, corporations have all the rights and yet few of the responsibilities of people. The film is in vignettes examining and criticizing corporate business practices. From the film we learn that the corporation is, after all, a legal entity that has the same rights as a human being under the present law.
reveals to us how corporations managed to have arrived at a place where they may be compared to a psychopath. It establishes parallels between the way corporations are systematically compelled to behave and the DSM-IV's symptoms of psychopathy, i.e. callous disregard for the feelings of other people, the incapacity to maintain human relationships, reckless disregard for the safety of others, deceitfulness (continual lying to deceive for profits the incapacity to experience quilt IT failure to conform to social norms and respect for the law
The film indeed effectively paints a dark picture of what a corporation is capable of by revealing some sad truths about
example, sweatshops, environmental pollution, how parents are nagged by children into buying products, and a retelling how Fox News pressured two investigative journalists into killing a story about BST, a Monsanto drug that increases milk production in cows, and incidentally causes cancer.
List of People Interviewed for the documentary
1.Jane Akre, investigative reporter, fired by TV station WTVT 2.Ray Anderson, CEO, Interface Inc., world's largest commercial carpet manufacturer 3.Joe Badaracco, Prof. of Business Ethics, Harvard Business School 4.Maude Barlow, chairperson, Council of Canadians 5.Marc Barry Competitive intelligence professional 6.Elaine Bernard, director, Harvard Business School Labor Program 7.Edwin Black, author, IBM and the Holocaust 8.Carlton Brown, commodities broker 9.Noam Chomsky, professor, M.I.T. 10.Chris Barrett & Luke Mccabe, "Corporately-sponsored" students 11.Peter Drucker, professor of management and author 12.Dr. Samuel Epstein, Emeritus Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, U. of Illinois 13.Andrea Finger, spokesperson, Disney-built town of Celebration 14.Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist
15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
Sam Gibara, chairman and former CEO, Goodyear Tire Richard Grossman, co-founder, Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy Dr. Robert Hare, Ph.D., psychologist and FBI psychopath consultant Lucy Hughes, vice president, Initiative Media Ira Jackson, director, Center for Business & Government, Kennedy School, Harvard Charles Kernaghan, director, National Labor Committee Robert Keyes, president and CEO, Canadian Council for International Business Mark Kingwell, philosopher, cultural critic, author Naomi Klein, author, No Logo Tom Kline, vice president, Pfizer Inc., world's largest pharmaceutical corporation Chris Komisarjevsky, CEO, Burson Marsteller Worldwide Dr. Susan Linn, Prof. of Psychiatry, Baker Children's Center, Harvard Robert Monks, corporate governance adviser and shareholder activist Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former chairman, Royal Dutch Shell Michael Moore, author, filmmaker Oscar Olivera, leader, Coalition in Defense of Water and Life
31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.
Jonathan Ressler, CEO, Big Fat Inc., undercover marketing specialist Jeremy Rifkin, president, Foundation on Economic Trends Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist, ecologist, feminist and seed activist Clay Timon, CEO, Landor and Associates, global branding specialists Michael Walker, executive director, Fraser Institute Robert Weissman, editor, Multinational Monitor Steve Wilson, investigative reporter, fired by TV station WTVT Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president, Technology and Strategy, IBM Servers 39. Mary Zepernick, coordinator, Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy 40. Howard Zinn, historian and author, A People's History of the United States
Companies fined for their unethical behavior
1. Exxon 2. GE 3. Chevron 4. Mitsubishi 5. IBM 6. Kodak 7. Pfizer 8. Odwalla 9. Sears 10.Dancan Clinical Laboratories 11.Unocal 12.Blue Cross Blue Shield 13.Hyundai 14.Bristol Myers Squibb 15.Daewoo
16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
Georgia Pacific Korean Air Alcoa BASF Tyson UniSYS United Technology Royal Caribbean Warner Lambert Litton Rockwell Teledyne, Inc. Hoechst Dalwa Bank Group Roche
Some Case Histories
1. Honduras Sweat Shops Workers here produced garments that would be sold to help children around the world. Public figure Kathy Lee Gifford was the brand ambassador for the cause. But, she never checked that people working in these sweat shops were children themselves.
2. DuPont, Shell, Dow Jones, Monsanto and other chemical companies Since 1940s these Chemical companies have harmed the environment with toxic effects and has brought the world in a major midst of a cancer epidemic.
3. Paper Mills & Hog Farms Mounds of white foam is seen in rivers. This is due to the waste the paper mills & hog farms being dispersed in the river.
4. AOL / Time Warner subsidiary They hold copyright of the popular HAPPY BIRTHDAY song and thus demanded over $10,000 to allow anyone use this song in a film.
5. Bechtel Corporation (Bolivia) In lieu of their loans to Bolivia, the World Bank privatized their oil, rail, road, electric & telephone services. It reached a high point when the Bolivians wanted to refinance their public water services, the World Bank privatized the water supply and gave it to Bechtel Corporation of San Francisco. This gave the corporation control over all water resources including the rain in Bolivias 3rd largest city. There was a public violation standoff and finally the rights of people prevailed.
