the (psychopathic) corporation

Do you have Netflix? If you want to watch an eye-opening movie instantly, then this dog recommends you check out The Corporation. It’s a documentary that analyzes what it means to be a corporation. When you look at U.S. laws, you see corporations have many of the same rights humans do. Now, that was eye-opening.

Corporations, as humans, have a personality. I say “a” personality because the documentary posits that, due to their legal structure and capitalist goals, every corporation has a pre-set agenda that shapes their personality. That agenda is driven by the need to be profitable. A non-profitable corporation doesn’t exist (or else it would be registered legally as a non-profit!).

Just like humans, but reduced to more basic animal instincts, corporations’ drive to survive determines their behaviour. Now, that’s something I can relate to. As a dog, my hunger, my thirst, and my instinctual need to find mammals drives my behaviour. Corporations are no different– the need for money drives all that they do, and it trumps all other priorities… those of humans, those of animals, those of environment… nothing stands a chance in the face of an insatiable corporation.

“These are a special kind of person who have no moral conscience.”

— Noam Chomsky

The real point of The Corporation is to examine the personality profile of a corporation and compare it to what we know of humans. You want to know what the movie’s conclusion is? Corporations share many personality traits with psychopaths. Below is the checklist of items of psychopathic traits used in the movie… go watch the movie to see the full list, each with examples.

-Callous unconcern for the feelings of others

-Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships

-Reckless disregard for the safety of others

-Deceitfulness: repeated lying and conning others for profit

-Incapacity to experience guilt

-Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors

Here’s the trailer: