| From: | Fade <runefo@***.UIO.NO> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Nation states and Corporations |
| Date: | Mon, 20 Oct 1997 02:26:57 +0000 |
Foreword:
I am trying out some musings on how the nightmare corporations of
2050 can come about, in broad terms rather than the specifics of SR.
They are by no means unthinkable; we see signs of their rise all
around us. It is where we are headed, but, fortunately, not head on.
I want these statements to be challenged; I wish they can be declared
dead and void. But we shall see...
By the way, I wish to see a return of dystopian corporations as
the looming antagonists behind everything.. it's more cyberpunk than
IE's or insect spirits... and more realistic :)
Statement: Traditional powers are waning. (Military in particular).
Today, there is a slow but steady erosion of power from the nation
states. As military power becomes less important than economic and
relational power, the western governments has become hostage to the
whims of their populations, which again can be influenced by the
proper stick or carrot. In many cases it is the governments
themselves that do the influencing, but not always, or in some cases
even rarely. The Gulf War is a showcase of the failure of military
power in the face of economic and relational power.
(What? It was won by the coalition military, wasn't it? Think about
it like this.. who won? Iraq, the military power, or Kuwait, the
economic/relational power?).
Statement: Democracy requires capitalism. But capitalism does not
require democracy. (There is numerous examples of capitalism without
democracy, but none of democracy without capitalism.). Capitalism
without democracy becomes a tyranny of oppression.
Corporations, despite pleasant musings about 'public relations', are
fairly immune from the vagaries of the public once they become
settled. (Internatinal companies is the main force behind the current
fires in the pacific, yet I bet most here would be hard pressed even
to name them.). Corporations have been claimed to be the dictator's
best friend. Driven solely by short and medium term monetary gain
corporations are easily bribed by cheap labor and low taxes. Often,
they do the exploitation work of the dictators for them. The
consumers, while occassionally incensed by atrocities, child labor,
and stories of atrocious working conditions, will also almost always
buy the cheaper alternative. (Or, in the case of clever manipulation,
the more expensive alternative. Nike shoes, for example, is vastly
overpriced but sells like crazy. Manufactured in China for almost
nothing, they are among the most expensive shoes on the market.).
On the other hand, democracy is based on a number of freedoms,
among which is the freedom of personal ownership and freedom
of trade, which is more or less the sole requirement for capitalism.
If there is no capitalism, there can be no democracy.
Statement: Corporations are the Dictators' best friend.
The corporations gain by continued cheap labor; it is not in
their interest to see these countries becoming developed. The Arap
Moi's, the Deng Xiaoping, and Pinochet's of today has firm support in
corporations; in the mistaken belief that capitalism equals democracy
the corporations' activities are welcomed and endorsed by western
society.
(Did you know that today, in indonesia and the philipines,
mercenaries protect corporate interests from natives? With the
blessing of the government?)
Statement: There is an aristocracy of ownership.
Status is measured in wealth. If you are rich, you are
somebody. If you are poor, you are nobody. Happiness, a loving
spouse and good health is secondary. Wealth defines your station,
your status. Without status you will not be able to get a good job,
and thus you will remain of low status. If you have good status, you
are usually able to retain this. Advancing to the next higher 'class'
of status is hard, but not impossible; so is falling down. The drive
for status, the competition to be better than your neighbour, defines
today's society. As long as this is the sole measure of success, then
the environment, the homeless, the starving in africa, the thousands
of species made extinct each year, the rampaging diseases, all will
take second stage. (And a very, very low second stage.).
Statement: Corporations will grow larger at the expense of
governmental influence.
Today's best tool for gaining wealth is corporations, or any number
of other establishments connected to their existence. (Banking,
financial institutions, and, in some countries, dictators.). Their
continued existence is part of society, and their growth, given
today's social values, is inevitable. Since the 'validation' of
capitalism by the fall of communism, the process can only accelerate.
At the same time the democratic government depends on the success of
the nation's economy. This economy is clearly tied to the companies
in each nation. The government will have to make itself attractive to
corporations, through both laws, low taxation, and cheap and
easily exploitable labor or a highly educated workforce. (With a
resulting consumer market.). The international market is far more
fluid than ever before with the increased speed of information
exchange. The globalized market makes trade boycotts a loose -
loose proposition; a country imposing restirctions harms only itself,
making governmental interference highly detrimental for the nation,
and thus unlikely to happen. Thus corporations gain power, while
governments become less and less likely to interfere.
Statement: Capitalism unchecked by democracy leads to exploitation.
This is self evident. It is what is happening in most of the third
world today - western corporations exploit third world countries.
Also, instances of exploitation during the industrial revolution,
which is one of the showcase scenarios of capitalism unchecked, is in
every nation's past. This also led to the idea of Marxism and later
communism as a counter movement to unchecked capitalism.
It made the mistake of confusing unchecked capitalism with democratic
capitalism, but with the loss of power by governments and thus loss
of democratic checks on corporate power, we are moving towards
unchecked capitalism again.
Statement: Corporations grow larger.
This is in their nature. Corporations merging leads to lesser
internal expenses, while on the outside they only have to match the
price of their competitors. As long as they are larger than their
competitors, they thus get better profit margins, their shares thus
do better, and they then have more cashflow, so they can grow even
larger. It is a self - accelerating process, which is only halted
when checked by other megacorporations. (So the big 8 counterblance
each other from groving even larger, and at the same time gobbles up
anyone else trying to grow up into the big league. It is no
coincidence that the big 8 are somewhat specialized in separate
fields - these are the fields they have the biggest profit margins in
because they are the biggest in that field.).
Statement: Soical inequality leads to social unrest.
This statement should not be controversial. We see signs of this
everywhere. Chief examples of this is the french revolution, the
russian revolution, and WW2.
To sum up:
The world is moving towards a capitalist world order where nation
states are insignificant compared to the power of megacorporations.
Human rights, democracy, and other trappings of civilizations are
secondary to profit, leading to massive exploitation, which again
leads to huge social differences. This will lead to bloody uprising
by minority groups, often (rightly) labeled communists, which will be
struck down harshly by the government, or by the corporations
themselves.
To sum it up II:
Let's hope democracy can control capitalism, rather than the other
way around.
--
Fade
"Do you wish to dance with Lucretia, Mr. President?"
