Charlie Stross wrote:
>
> On Wed, Aug 29, 2001 at 08:37:44AM -0700, Lee Corbin wrote:
> > >
> > > Corporations are legal entities with many of the rights of human
> > > beings. They have their own interests and agendas which are distinct
> > > from those of the human beings who are members of them. (Corporate
> > > officers are charged with a duty of pursuing the interests of the
> > > corporation and can be fired or even sued if they let their own
> > > preferences get in the way.)
> >
> > The implication being that corporations shouldn't have "their own"
> > interests, or that those officers shouldn't be so charged?
>
> No implications ... except that we should not make the mistake of
> expecting corporations to behave like human beings, or have human
> interests at heart.
>
> (Some -- like me -- draw the conclusion from this that corporations,
> being legal entities established to promote the common good of humans,
> should be wound up/shut down/fixed whenever their activities contradict
> the common good. But just where to draw the line in the sand is an,
> um, interesting question.)
Well, they obviously have human interests (those of their stockholders)
at heart. They just don't have much of all humans' interests at heart.
If you don't like the interests expressed by a particular company, buy
out its stockholders... thats how everybody else does it.
>
> > >> Was the WSPQ (World's Shortest Political Quiz) this loaded, and I
> > >> simply couldn't recognize it because I'm a libertarian? This is scary!
> > >
> > > To my (non-American) eyes the answer is "yes, it was". Be scared!
> >
> > Why didn't you point out that it was loaded at the time? No one
> > said anything of the kind. Weren't we left thinking that the
> > test was non-biased?
>
> When?
>
> [ more later -- being dragged out for dinner ]
The definition of a liberal is one who is so fair minded that he/she
won't even defend their own opinion. In this respect, the test you
pointed us to seemed more like an entrance exam to the Consolidated
Communist/Green/Black Panther/Feminazi Party.
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