by Peter Latona

Created on: April 18, 2009   Last Updated: April 23, 2009

Who Are the Evil Corporations?

We could begin by looking for corporations who are not evil. Understanding that evil is often linked to Satan and has a myriad of connotations let me narrow this definition for the purpose of this article. I would contrast good vs. evil in the following context. Good is love, which is bestowal which is pure altruism. Good is the essence of giving before taking. Good is when you do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Evil is taking instead of giving. Evil is calculating every action for our own benefit. Evil is taking care of your self and let the others take care of themselves. Evil is the dark selfish side of egoism.

So in the spirit of this definition; who are the evil corporations? All of them. It is easy to call out AIG, CitiGroup, the automakers and the others currently making headlines. I submit they are in the wrong industry at the wrong time, but their misconduct are no better or worse than the rest of the lot. This is important because we should all understand just how self serving corporate America has become. All corporations are me first. All corporations calculate every possible move to take as much profit as possible with the least expense possible. This calculation is applied to their customers, vendors and employees. Nothing is ever given and even when they perform charitable acts, they have calculated the benefit they will receive from the appearance of being charitable.

A corporation is a legal entity. You cannot call it on the phone or arrange for a meeting. The corporation is people and herein lays another cause with consequences for Corporate America. Although they will deny it under oath, the managers of corporations are making their decisions not based on what is best for the corporation; decisions are made based on what is best for my career. In a small business there are no levels of management and no career tracks. Employees with ownership interests need to put the needs of the business first or the business will likely fail. Not so in a big corporation. What's in it for me takes total precedence over what is good for the business. The sheer size and strength of the companies allow it to survive in an environment when the needs of the company were not put first or at least they used to survive. Not so much these days.

I worked for one of our largest corporations for 27 years. So many times I was told we needed to make a sacrifice for the "Team" or go the extra mile for the "Company". What this

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