Corporations In America

Corporations of America have long been given a bad reputation because of their selfish principles. The documentary The Corporation, written by Joel Bakan, portrays corporations as monsters, willing to do anything to make a profit, no matter the price. Over and over again corporate leaders are described as “bad apples,” and are characterized as cold, uncaring individuals. These qualities often lead modern day corporations to be compared to the followers of sophism. In ancient Greece, sophists were con men and persuasive speakers who believed that the purpose of life was to seek pleasure, by any means necessary. Both corporations, and the sophists used fluent speech to deceive ordinary citizens and disregarded what was fair in favor of personal gain.

Corporations often used their powerful speech to bend the rules so they could make a larger profit. After the fourteenth amendment was passed, which declared that no state can deny any person life liberty or property, corporations decided to plead to the courts that they should be considered people (The Corporation 2004).

They did not care about what other people had to give up as long as they were making a profit. They also did not care about the measures they took to make a larger profit. Sophists had no remorse after conning innocent people out of their money. As long as they were getting pleasure from the situation they were fine. Some modern day corporations use sweatshops in order to make a larger profit. Workers, usually women and children, work in terrible conditions for very little pay (The Corporation 2004). Outside of U.S. borders, corporations are able to ignore some regulations and take advantage of desperate people. Neither the sophists, nor the corporations cared about the wellbeing of others. They did not think about the harm they were inflicting on these innocent people as long as they profited from