Corporations and a Sustainable World - Essay Example

It began during the Industrial Age when the machines increased the productivity of manufacturers. Before, they were a group of people who were hired by the government to perform particular functions, like building bridges for the public. It was supposed to be a subordinate entity a gift given by the people to serve the public good. But somewhere along history, corporate lawyers cited the Fourteenth Amendment (not to deprive any person of life, liberty or property). This made the corporation protection because it can now own, buy and sell things, borrow money, sue and be sued and can carry a business.

Corporation starts when the government gives a charter to a group of people who want a limited liability when it comes to business. Because of the charter, incorporations are taken by the law as individuals. The movie analyzed the character of this “individual” and made the audience realize how the corporations that the majority knows, is not what it is, but rather an ideal construct of the corporation so that the public would like them, thus would let them produce more money. As said before, the corporation is made up of various people.

They are formed to protect the corporation itself, which means generating money for the corporation. Doing this job causes harm to workers, like: low salaries, lay-offs, union bustings, etc. These decisions are made so that the company can cut the cost of their operations yet deliver the same quality of goods to the consumers. The film put a spotlight on the sweatshops. The products sold in the department stores that are sold for $ 31 are actually being made at factories in Third World countries for 3 cents per hour.

The discrepancy is obvious. But according to Michael Walker, this is a good thing, because they give opportunity to people who have “nothing to offer but their low cost labor”. Basically, they use the people’s need for employment as a resource to outsource their need for low cost labor. However, these people who make decisions for the corporation, which is a legal structure, just the same as a building, are moral people with moral responsibilities. Sam Gibara, a former CEO of Goodyear, Inc.

states that his personality as a person is different than that of his personality as a CEO. The priorities shift when he is on the job because of the demands of the job that requires him to make certain touchy decisions, like laying off people. Even the former chairman of the Royal Dutch Shell, Sir Mark Moody Stuart stated that they have the same concerns as with the activists, as he interviewed public demonstrators who tried to rally in their house. These ideas of inequality reflect the conflict approach in sociology, specifically the conflict of class approach.

Karl Marx presented this idea, which is appropriate since he also introduced the idea of capitalism, which is basically the spirit of the corporation. The conflict approach originated from Marx’s ideas and writings on class struggles. This theory focuses on the negative aspects of the society, making a way for improvements to happen, because of shortcomings (Schaefer, 423). This film presents the shortcomings of the corporation, along with the opinions of the people who defend it. The movie pokes the sensibilities of the audience who may or may not act on the situation that demands change for the improvement of the way the corporations are being run.

This is a perfect example of the