Has this already happened in the U.S.? Thanks to SCOTUS, a corporation--as you say, an artificial creation theoretically under control of the state where it's chartered--HAS THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS (against search and seizure, of speech/not speaking...) of a natural person under the Constitution. Moreover, I wonder whether the mega international corporations don't ALREADY have more money than our governments--particularly through campaign contributions and continuing support of/attacks on "our" "elected" "representatives."
This situation is the background in the 1950s science fiction novel, The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of my favorited sf novels, you should give it a read.
Of course, at a more fundamental level, the only way to ultimately reign in these multinational corporations is to ensure they are taxed properly - that they can't hide their income and wealth in tax havens, but they have to pay their fair share of taxes in each country in which they operate.
Thank you for this account. You make the important point, so much attacked by the Republicans from Reagan onwards, that government is at root "the people organized". Of course governments do bad things by not representing the people properly, but, at root, government is the regulation of private power in the interests of the public good. Regarding the main issue - the collapse of the Swedish system of codetermination of the workplace, with full union involvement in decision-making - this failed battle reveals the weak point the European legal systems. When Hitler occupied much of Europe he enforced strict rules of labour relations with recognition of Nazi unions. The Europeans were so relieved to be freed from authoritarian rule that, when Nazi control was removed, their adoption of rights of freedom of association rejected state coercion to enforce labour and collective bargaining rights. Such rights were recognized as a principle of a decent civil society, without the need for legal enforcement. As a result, unlike in the US and Canada, there is no legally enforceable right to collective bargaining. It is just the norm of European society. So when a monster enters in from the outside and refuses to abide by the norms, there is nothing legally to stop them. It shows the need for a legally enforceable right of collective bargaining, which is what secured union recognition by Walmart in Canada. The alternative for Walmart was the Labour Board ordering first contract interest arbitration. That is the kind of government legal measure necessary to check someone like Musk, assuming the Labour Boards are neutral bodies doing their jobs properly, as is the case in Canada, much less so the NLRB.
There will always be people willing to sell out their community and/or its leader in order to get something they want. Thirty pieces of silver is the classic, the Joe Pantoliano character in The Matrix embodies it even better. HE KNOWS THE STEAK HE IS EATING AS A REWARD FOR HIS TREACHERY IS NOT REAL but he was willing to sell out his comrades for the illusion. And yet, can you blame the union workers who took the money? Can we have compassion for someone who sees an escape, a deliverance, a dream come true, a chance for a different future, whatever...for making a grab for what they want? Sometimes sacrificing what could be yours for an impersonal and vague principle doesn't make sense to the one making the choice.
A timely piece, as we are days from Gil Duran’s book about Musk and his fellow wealth addict sociopaths. The Sweden situation is a dark cloud, but the technodystopia is the storm that’s coming for us all.
Wow! If workers can't organize in Sweden, with a government that supports them, this is a sad lesson for all workers, like Reagan breaking the Air Traffic Controllers.
Ending on the note about the current AI firms puts the focus on how much danger we're in. The technology gives incredible power to flood the zone and disempower workers.
Has this already happened in the U.S.? Thanks to SCOTUS, a corporation--as you say, an artificial creation theoretically under control of the state where it's chartered--HAS THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS (against search and seizure, of speech/not speaking...) of a natural person under the Constitution. Moreover, I wonder whether the mega international corporations don't ALREADY have more money than our governments--particularly through campaign contributions and continuing support of/attacks on "our" "elected" "representatives."
This situation is the background in the 1950s science fiction novel, The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of my favorited sf novels, you should give it a read.
Honestly, fuck Musk and all his fellow oligarchs. They cannot escape the fact forever that they mere cogs in bigger systems.
Of course, at a more fundamental level, the only way to ultimately reign in these multinational corporations is to ensure they are taxed properly - that they can't hide their income and wealth in tax havens, but they have to pay their fair share of taxes in each country in which they operate.
Thank you for this account. You make the important point, so much attacked by the Republicans from Reagan onwards, that government is at root "the people organized". Of course governments do bad things by not representing the people properly, but, at root, government is the regulation of private power in the interests of the public good. Regarding the main issue - the collapse of the Swedish system of codetermination of the workplace, with full union involvement in decision-making - this failed battle reveals the weak point the European legal systems. When Hitler occupied much of Europe he enforced strict rules of labour relations with recognition of Nazi unions. The Europeans were so relieved to be freed from authoritarian rule that, when Nazi control was removed, their adoption of rights of freedom of association rejected state coercion to enforce labour and collective bargaining rights. Such rights were recognized as a principle of a decent civil society, without the need for legal enforcement. As a result, unlike in the US and Canada, there is no legally enforceable right to collective bargaining. It is just the norm of European society. So when a monster enters in from the outside and refuses to abide by the norms, there is nothing legally to stop them. It shows the need for a legally enforceable right of collective bargaining, which is what secured union recognition by Walmart in Canada. The alternative for Walmart was the Labour Board ordering first contract interest arbitration. That is the kind of government legal measure necessary to check someone like Musk, assuming the Labour Boards are neutral bodies doing their jobs properly, as is the case in Canada, much less so the NLRB.
This made my skin creep. Glad (??) I read it though.
There will always be people willing to sell out their community and/or its leader in order to get something they want. Thirty pieces of silver is the classic, the Joe Pantoliano character in The Matrix embodies it even better. HE KNOWS THE STEAK HE IS EATING AS A REWARD FOR HIS TREACHERY IS NOT REAL but he was willing to sell out his comrades for the illusion. And yet, can you blame the union workers who took the money? Can we have compassion for someone who sees an escape, a deliverance, a dream come true, a chance for a different future, whatever...for making a grab for what they want? Sometimes sacrificing what could be yours for an impersonal and vague principle doesn't make sense to the one making the choice.
A timely piece, as we are days from Gil Duran’s book about Musk and his fellow wealth addict sociopaths. The Sweden situation is a dark cloud, but the technodystopia is the storm that’s coming for us all.
Wow! If workers can't organize in Sweden, with a government that supports them, this is a sad lesson for all workers, like Reagan breaking the Air Traffic Controllers.
No one should every buy anything from this man's wealth machine. And symbols of it should be treated with the appropriate derision.
This is a worry, and it's been around for quite awhile. I hope we can reign in multinational corporations.
Ending on the note about the current AI firms puts the focus on how much danger we're in. The technology gives incredible power to flood the zone and disempower workers.