ATDTDA (5): The American Corporation

[Monte Davis]

Chris Broderick wrote:

>The biggest complaint that I have about corporations
>has to do with the fact that they are allowed to
>externalize incredibly huge costs (see the Exxon
>Valdez, Enron, or my favorite example, the fact that
>because they don't pay a living wage, Walmart has
>programs to help their employees get on public
>assistance.)  These are things that we end up paying
>for as taxpayers, all to make a small auditorium of
>stockholders happy.
>
I'm in agreement about the downsides you cite, but I don't see a 
*categorical* distinction here between corporations and individuals. I 
currently externalize the costs of pollution and CO2 from my home's gas 
furnace and my car, the runoff from whatever yummy chemicals I apply to 
my lawn, my various contributions to the congestion of southeastern 
Pennsylvania, etc. etc., as do millions of other individuals.

IOW, it matters that a corporation's externalities are concentrated and 
thus high-profile, but it doesn't put them in an entirely different 
moral framework.