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Liked It “interesting look at the power of corporations in contemporary life and how it influences world powers as well as developing nations. eye opening and a definite conscience raiser.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Short book (213 pages including end notes) but hard to finish because it sucked. a bunch of pointless facts and "stats" about how corporations have been screwing people over for years... like people don't know that already. but what ruined this book for me is the recurring theme about calling...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“interesting look at the power of corporations in contemporary life and how it influences world powers as well as developing nations. eye opening and a definite conscience raiser. ”
Josh P wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Short book (213 pages including end notes) but hard to finish because it sucked. a bunch of pointless facts and "stats" about how corporations have been screwing people over for years... like people don't know that already. but what ruined this book for me is the recurring theme about calling the corporation a "psychopath" and using that stupid angle over and over to explain why corporations do "bad" things. i felt like i was being talked down to or something as i read the book. people run those companies no matter how much one tries to personify companies and corporations.. yet "bakan" not once calls out ceo's/executives for their unethical behavior and blames the "corporation" for being a "psychopath"
a c wrote this review Sunday, September 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
what a joke
then there were "examples" of how republicans in particular either helped deregulate some part of the economy or did something for corps to profit form them and vice versa. not 1 mention of democrats benefiting from doin deals with corporations. maybe democrats are really nice and don't get into these kind of suspect deals right? what a joke. this book sucks.”“Very interesting and insightful as to the power of corporations”
Karen K wrote this review Tuesday, July 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Where did our society go wrong....why is the world turning into a mess....blame the faceless corporations. Fahrenheit 911 for the business world. Well worth a read if you like that sort of thing.”
Scott C wrote this review Saturday, May 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Here's what I gained from reading this book:
Mark V wrote this review Friday, May 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1) Corporations have been given the legal status and rights afforded an individual but they have limited liability. The existence of the corporation is to secure and increase profits. After the Supreme Court in 1886 granted the same rights and protections that were meant for slaves rebounding from the Civil War as established in the 14th Amendment to corporations, these corporations have had a special status protected within our legal system. Further, anyone who hints that the corporation might have an ounce of social responsibility does not know that the corporation answers to the shareholders who want a return on their investment.
2) In fact, corporate social responsibility is illegal. Dodge v. Ford in 1916 secured that it was the legal obligation for the workers and management in a corporation to work for the shareholders only.
3) As corporations behave, characterisitically, they act as psychopaths: deception, megalomania, lacking conscience, manipulation, lack of empathy, grandiosity, refuse to accept responsibility, unable to feel remorse, and irresponsibility identify them to be comparable to most behind bars.
4) Externalities define the rapacious myopia that corporations exhibit. In fact, they are proud of the fact that others would and should pay for their waste, greed, pollution, and harmful by-products.
5) The only way that the rise of corporations can be resisted is if government is willing to regulate and legislate to keep the boundaries firm against corporations; and next, if we individuals, acting with conscience, resist the allure of corporations one-by-one.
This is what I gained from reading this short book. I recommend it as an antidote for anyone fed up with consumerism, media, and conspicuous consumption. ”“somebody told me books of j archer and j grisham are trash .. true .. because .. every one must read these kind of books first .. I think small concepts from books like theses should be put on school books as well .. ”
Venu G wrote this review Sunday, April 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“2004 critique that got more attention when it was made into a documentary.
TheophileEscargot wrote this review Sunday, April 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
There are plenty of critiques of capitalism around: the USP of this one is that Bakan thinks that corporations, while "persons" in the legal system, would actually be psychopaths if they were really people, being ruthlessly committed to profit, grandiose, deceptive and unable to feel remorse.
Which seem accurate. However, you could get similar conclusions by considering other collective institutions as persons. If, say, a tennis club was a person, he'd be absolutely obsessed with tennis, devoid of other interests, ruthlessly competitive, incapable of pity. But that's mainly because a tennis club isn't really a person and it's a bit stupid to think of it as one, even if it can enter into a contract to get the lawns mowed.
Despite the dramatic analogy, the tone of the book is very calm by the standards of the anti-capitalist genre. The recommendations at the end are mostly pretty reasonable, even a bit bland. Better government regulation (bigger fines, more inspectors), more trade unionism, more postal-service style government-corporations. Some of them are a bit dubious: I don't really see how Proportional Representation is really relevant, the "Precautionary Principle" basically amounts to "nothing shall be done for the first time".
Interesting, while the early book spends a lot of time claiming that limited liability makes corporations irresponsible (since shareholders aren't liable for failed gambles or massive fines), abolishing limited liability is not on the list.
Now the limited liability argument is a bit weaker than it first looks. Empirical evidence doesn't seem to show it makes much difference either way. It's also inconsistent with Bakan's other argument that shareholders don't have information and power to restrain management: if so, punishing shareholders won't help since they're impotent anyway. And abolishing it might just mean shareholders concentrate even more on bigger, safer, established mega-corporations instead of risky smaller companies.
Another idea that disappears before the actual recommendations section is that of the state just dissolving sufficiently nasty corporations. Bakan likes floating these ideas, but chickens out before explaining how they will be implemented. (What happens to workers when the government un-exists the corporation they work for?)
The way these ideas vanish so casually gives off a whiff of insincerity. So too does the contrast between the harsh "psychopath" comparison and the mildness of the remedies. If Naomi Klein and Michael Moore are the N.W.A. and Public Enemy of anticapitalist writing, Joel Bakan seems more like its Vanilla Ice.
Overall then, not really a book I'd recommend. If you're going to put a radical claim on the wall in Chapter One, at least put a radical solution at the end.”“Must read for all Americans.”
Jim Z wrote this review Saturday, December 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“My SSR book these days. This really has been an eye-opening read like, in a sense, "Guns, Germs and Steel." Both books cover topics so familiar, so everyday, that we don't think about them all that much. But we SHOULD! Bakan is starting from scratch with the definition and history of the corporation. His chapters on the psychopathic nature of corporations is difficult to disagree with.”
Mr. V wrote this review Sunday, October 19 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Both the book and its documentary (originally aired by Canadian public television) are a fascinating look into how the corporation has come to dominate the lives of everyone on this planet. This book is well worth the read! The DVD has plenty of case studies, but the book gives more and in better depth!”
Robert Landrum wrote this review Friday, June 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
