Why Are Corporations Bad? part 5

You cannot spit without hitting some article blaming corporations for the mess the world is in. According to this meme "They" rape and pillage at will, they are the 1% who hog everything, they are the elite who control everything and THEY must be stopped before it is too late. To many, "they" are synonymous with Wall Street and the opposite of Main Street. This seems to be the thing that finally unites the left, from Occupy to Yes magazine!

But I'm thinking this is yet another misdirection. By focusing on one organizational strategy of capital rather than the logic of capitalism itself, you risk a myopic view leading to a myopic "solution".I'm no fan of corporations,mind you, but what is it exactly that is so objectionable to so many? The hierarchical structure? The sheer size of the biggies? Their disproportional influence over the "political" process? What is a corporation really?

A corporation is a group authorized to act as a single entity. The business my mechanic buddy owns is incorporated so that his liability is limited (he won't lose his house if his employee does something stupid). He is on Main Street. So it must be the organizational model. But no, he allows his two employees equal decision making power.Google feeds it's employees catered lunches and pays really good. I know a farmer with ten seasonal employees who exploits the shit out his help. So it must be the size factor, when they get too big they can demand things or buy people. As monopolies they can corner markets. But how big is too big? (can we pinpoint some number?) And what would keep them from splitting up but still coordinating? What if they formed trade organizations? What if they met in Switzerland and made plans?

The point here is that the local Main Street store can be twice as ruthless as Costco. And their union, the Chamber of Commerce, is viciously anti-worker. And a small, local bank can screw you just as effectively as a big one. Their board of directors is no more transparent than Goldman Sachs and the CEO might be a racist reactionary way worse than Blankfien.

So if people want to spend all their energy de-corporatizing capitalism (pit bull) to make it smaller and gentler and kinder (like a puppy?) they will find themselves on the ground having their throats ripped out by a pack of chows.