Nexus - 0906 - New Times Magazine-pages

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OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2002 www.nexusmagazine.com NEXUS • 11The corporation was invented early in the colonial era as a grant of privilege extended by the Crown to a group of investors, usually to finance a tradeexpedition. The corporation limited the liability of investors to the amount oftheir investment—a right not held by ordinary citizens. Corporate charters set out the specific rights and obligations of the individual corporation, including the amountto be paid to the Crown in return for the privilege granted. Thus were born the East India Company, which led the British colonisation of India, and Hudson's Bay Company, which accomplished the same purpose in Canada. Almostfrom the beginning, Britain deployed state military power to further corporate interests—apractice that has continued to the present. Also from the outset, corporations began pres-suring government to expand corporate rights and to limit corporate responsibilities. The corporation was a legal invention—a socio-economic mechanism for concentrating and deploying human and economic power. The purpose of the corporation was and is togenerate profits for its investors. As an entity, it has no other purpose; it acknowledges nohigher value. Many people understood early on that since corporations do not serve society as a whole, but only their investors, there is therefore always a danger that the interests ofcorporations and those of the general populace will come into conflict. Indeed, the UnitedStates was born of a revolution not just against the British monarchy but against thepower of corporations. Many of the American colonies had been chartered ascorporations (the Virginia Company, the Carolina Company, the Maryland Company,etc.) and were granted monopoly power over lands and industries considered crucial to theinterests of the Crown. Much of the literature of the revolutionaries was filled with denunciations of the "long train of abuses" of the Crown and its instruments of dominance, the corporations. As theyoke of the Crown corporations was being thrown off, Thomas Jefferson railed against"the general prey of the rich on the poor". Later, he warned the new nation against thecreation of "immortal persons" in the form of corporations. The American revolutionariesresolved that the authority to charter corporations should lie not with governors, judges orgenerals, but only with elected legislatures. At first, such charters as were granted were for a fixed time, and legislatures spelled out the rules each business should follow. Profit-making corporations were chartered to buildturnpikes, canals and bridges, to operate banks and to engage in industrial manufacture.Some citizens argued against even these few, limited charters, on the grounds that nobusiness should be granted special privileges and that owners should not be allowed tohide behind legal shields. Thus the requests for many charters were denied, and existingcharters were often revoked. Banks were kept on a short leash, and (in most states)investors were held liable for the debts and harms caused by their corporations. All of this began to change in the mid-19th century. According to Richard Grossman and Frank Adams in Taking Care of Business : "Corporations were abusing their charters to become conglomerates and trusts. They were converting the nation's treasures into pri-vate fortunes, creating factory systems and company towns. Political power began flow-ing to absentee owners intent upon dominating people and nature." 1 Grossman and Adams note that: "In factory towns, corporations set wages, hours, pro- duction processes and machine speeds. They kept blacklists of labor organizers andworkers who spoke up for their rights. Corporate officials forced employees to accepthumiliating conditions, while the corporations agreed to nothing." A HA H ISTORISTOR YYOFOFCCORPORAORPORA TETERRULEULE ANDANDPPOPULAROPULAR PPROTESTROTEST A new populist movement has emerged to challenge corporate power and call for a more equitable economic order that protects traditional cultures and ecosystems and promotes sustainability. by Richard Heinberg © 2002 Editor/Publisher MuseLetter 1604 Jennings Avenue Santa Rosa, CA 95401, USA Email: heinberg@museletter.com Website: http://www.museletter.com