Why Has Nefarious Corporate Behavior Become So Commonplace?
As a raker of muck, it's my job to root out the nefarious doings and innate immorality of the corporate creature.
But I'm in danger these days of being rendered obsolete by what's become the "ordinariousness" of corporate nefariousness. The wrongdoings of major corporations and entire industries are now so commonplace that one hardly has to root them out – their uglies are constantly oozing to the surface on their own from today's fetid corporate swamp.
What's happened is that a profiteering imperative has taken hold of the executive suites. Not content with merely making a profit, CEOs are out to make a killing – no matter what it costs the rest of us. This has turned them into rank thieves – richly rewarded for routinely exploiting America's workforce, plundering the environment, and corrupting our governments. Top executives have also seen that they'll pay no personal price for rapacious behavior, since the corrupted political and judicial systems show no serious interest in prosecuting (much less punishing) perpetrators who get caught.
In recent months, two huge examples of this rampant crime spree have erupted: (1) after Big Pharma bought out several reasonably-priced medicines from independent drug makers, the avaricious giants immediately gouged unsuspecting patients by quadrupling their prices; and (2) Volkswagen joined the Automobile Hall of Shame by secretly rigging computers on its highly-advertised "green" vehicles to hide the fact that they actually spew horrendous amounts of pollution into Earth's atmosphere.
An ethos of "anything goes," now rules the top floor of suites of most major corporations. The use of blatant lies, PR cover-ups, and zero top-level accountability is now central to the corporate business model. They don’t care if they get caught – profit has taken ethics prisoner, and corporate elites now call the devil "partner."
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This has been reposted from Jim Hightower's website.
