I wonder if many businesses should be run like a business. Corporations are themselves legal fictions created with government rules. Like in the town of Canton NC the largest employer by far was the Canton Paper Mill. It closed just two weeks ago. The town and the people of the town are devastated. 11,000 at the plant alone. A cascade of business will fail. The government tried to save it with grants. The people of the town and region bear the consequences of decisions made by a management team far away at the Pactiv Evergreen in Illinois.
There is a public interest in the survival of businesses at the local level. There is general harm to the community. Keeping a business in place is a public good. Saying that, however, doesn't move the needle much. Corporate law is clear and the fiduciary duty is to the stockholders not to the community and incentives to management are the hidden lever. I think we might begin a discussion about the moral right of a community to purchase a failing company, if there is a reasonable chance it can be saved. From there, we would need to rethink important aspects of corporate law. It is clearly part of a long overdue systemic evaluation of the role or corporations in society. This is not necessarily an attack on Capitalism. There is a public interest, tantamount to any lessor interest. But now only in theory and that not accepted by many. Private interests rally to the cause of their own wellbeing. Public interests can only depend upon a limited and flawed process of democracy and then only based on some majoritarian principle. I do see some hope though. We need to strengthen local government and begin to seriously analyze and apply the concept of "public good." It's a role for education in general and one political party should stand behind these ideas.
I think if localities are often to be blamed for outsourcing of production and jobs, then maybe it should also be true that communities and workers have a say. Mondragon and it's ability to exist, AG corporations (and equivalents) where they exist, co-ops (I mean real ones) already exist. Not just a theory.
I wonder if many businesses should be run like a business. Corporations are themselves legal fictions created with government rules. Like in the town of Canton NC the largest employer by far was the Canton Paper Mill. It closed just two weeks ago. The town and the people of the town are devastated. 11,000 at the plant alone. A cascade of business will fail. The government tried to save it with grants. The people of the town and region bear the consequences of decisions made by a management team far away at the Pactiv Evergreen in Illinois.
There is a public interest in the survival of businesses at the local level. There is general harm to the community. Keeping a business in place is a public good. Saying that, however, doesn't move the needle much. Corporate law is clear and the fiduciary duty is to the stockholders not to the community and incentives to management are the hidden lever. I think we might begin a discussion about the moral right of a community to purchase a failing company, if there is a reasonable chance it can be saved. From there, we would need to rethink important aspects of corporate law. It is clearly part of a long overdue systemic evaluation of the role or corporations in society. This is not necessarily an attack on Capitalism. There is a public interest, tantamount to any lessor interest. But now only in theory and that not accepted by many. Private interests rally to the cause of their own wellbeing. Public interests can only depend upon a limited and flawed process of democracy and then only based on some majoritarian principle. I do see some hope though. We need to strengthen local government and begin to seriously analyze and apply the concept of "public good." It's a role for education in general and one political party should stand behind these ideas.
I think if localities are often to be blamed for outsourcing of production and jobs, then maybe it should also be true that communities and workers have a say. Mondragon and it's ability to exist, AG corporations (and equivalents) where they exist, co-ops (I mean real ones) already exist. Not just a theory.