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Corporations are Good

By: Samuel Pennell (Diary)  |  May 17th, 2011 at 06:31 PM  | 

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It saddens me that I have to write this article, but apparently I need to raise awareness in defense of good old capitalist-style corporations. Since the day I was born (okay, maybe it was a few years later than that) I have been baffled by the idea that liberals and counterculturalists seem to think that big successful businesses like corporations are the bane of their existence. It could very well be that they are the victims of the leftist, Marxist brainwashing that has gone on in this country for decades. I’m not really sure how to state this, but have these people noticed that the richest countries in the world are the ones that have the biggest corporations? Is it their goal to make us poorer by destroying these corporations? Are they excited to bring down our standard of living? Don’t they want the higher standard of healthcare and education that indutrialized countries have? And are they so brainwashed as to think that tiny mom-and-pop stores really put out a better product?

Let’s go through a thought experiment-a hypothetical scenario. You are the owner of a very small mom-and-pop outfit. However, whatever it is that you’re selling has really struck a nerve. What starts out as five people walking through the door in a day quickly turns into 100, then it turns into 1,000. It really seems as though you are offering a product that people are dying for. As sales skyrocket, everybody at your store works much harder, and soon, you must actually expand your workforce, and hire more people. This includes floor associates, and management. In other words, the business is growing. Soon, it becomes obvious that you are offering such a desirable product, and profits are so high, that it becomes apparent that you can branch out, and franchise. Before you know it, you have a huge, massive, successful corporation. My question to liberals is: isn’t it obvious that you deserve all the money you made? Doesn’t it feel like you and all of your employees worked harder as the company became more successful? Don’t you feel quite certain that you didn’t coerce anybody into buying your product? I mean they walked through the door, didn’t they? My question to liberals is: can’t you feel the difference between being a mom-and-pop operation and a huge corporation? Doesn’t it feel like you are a more efficient company than a mom-and-pop operation, and that your existence is more justified than theirs? So, why does anyone favor their existence over yours? My answer is: jealousy, but that’s just me. It is up to you to decide if that theory holds true. Have these people not noticed that Africa has very few corporations, and it is also very poor? The argument is more complex than that, and  more closely relates to natural resources in my opinion, but there is definitely a direct correlation between corporations and wealth. At the end of the day, corporations are simply huge, successful, efficient businesses, and color me crazy, but I think that is a good thing. I personally feel pretty blessed to live in a country where we have huge, successful businesses, and it is okay to sell tons of stuff to people.

COMMENTS

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  • Menlo

    Some corporations are good, some are bad, some are neutral, and some have a mixed record.

    As for size, the largest ones did not all become big as the result of popular products, services, or ideas.

    What too many conservatives don’t seem to understand or complain about is that many corporations have grown large precisely because of government involvement, not in spite of it. At the same time, it’s important to realize that many corporations can and do grow through unethical or corrupt practices; and some government regulation is often warranted. It seems that more often than not, what ends up happening in Washington is that we get the former disguised as the latter (while the latter never even gets debated). Recall the health insurance corporations loved Obamacare just as GE loved the light bulb ban.

    It seems to me that many of the largest and most heavily regulated corporations seem to lobby for legislation more often than they lobby against it. Their top executives also tend to endorse the very politicians who demonize their wealth.

  • gpclaw

    Let me start off by saying that I LOVE free market capitalism. The problem is that too many industries have moved our free market system towards crony capitalism..

    Much of the loathing towards big business is self inflicted. It’s not so much because of the effort to create favorable tax conditions. You can’t fault someone for wanting to keep as much of their money as possible. The problem is companies that collude with the government, in order to create barriers to competition for future competitors. When this happens, we all lose, because we lose out on the level of competition that leads to newer, better products at lower prices.

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Blah blah blah DUH RITCH, blah blah KOCH BROTHERS something something KORPRASHUNS. (Had to get the leftist talking points in)

  • http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Reagan-Files/144699382218118 Samuel Pennell

    However, this diary entry is more along the lines of being a beginner’s guide to liking corporations. I believe that liberals need to start out on square one, and need to adopt the slightly simplistic belief that “all corporations are good,” as opposed to thinking “all corporations are evil.” This is appreciating business 101. Of course there are corporations that do more harm than good, and not all of them grew from mom and pop store status.

  • http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Reagan-Files/144699382218118 Samuel Pennell

    I agree with your “leftist talking points.” I myself tend to call crony capitalism “crony socialism,” because it seems to be a form of government collusion with business. That smacks of left wing central planning, rather than laissez faire capitalism, in my opinion, unless it comes in the form of tax breaks. But business and government colluding to create a monopoly is a hallmark of corporatism/socialism……it sure aint capitalism! Murray Rothbard made some great points on this subject.

  • gpclaw

    Crony socialism, nice! Crony Corporatism would work also.

    I may be both right and wrong on this issue, but I am torn on tax breaks.

    Yes, I love anything that allows an entity to keep their own money. However, tax breaks still provide a vehicle for the government to pick winners and losers. I think that this is one of those things that looks good on paper, but ultimately ends up working out bad in practice.

    Please don’t confuse me as a believer in AGW, because I’m not, the following is just an easy example to articulate. Pretend for a moment that AGW (and unicorns, the tooth fairy and Santa Clause) is real, and life as we know it will end in 100 years if nothing is done. The federal government, in all of it’s infinite wisdom, creates tax breaks for companies developing a new break through in wind and solar. Mean while, a small group of entrepreneurs are trying to engineer a synthetic form of gasoline that emits zero CO2 emissions. The synthetic fuel promises to be more efficient, and can be mass produced to meet our entire energy needs, but because it does not qualify for the tax break, all of the venture capital money is going towards the wind and solar.

    It’s great that the wind and solar people are able to keep more of their money, but did we miss out on an even better break through, because the two technologies aren’t competing on a level playing field.

    I would much favor a tax system that offers zero tax breaks, with really low rates. This way, everything is everyone is on a level playing field, and we don’t have to worry about the law of unintended consequences.

    If I’m missing something, my mind is open.

  • http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Reagan-Files/144699382218118 Samuel Pennell

    But how about THIS!!!! Tax breaks and incentives for companies that post record profits, or massive increses in profits and production. A little MORE capitalism (incentivizing productivity and profits) I always thought that would be awesome. And of course, no playing favorites for political reasons.

  • Menlo

    You would be hard-pressed to find two percent of the US population who believed “all corporations are evil.” Even self-described “liberals” would not say that.

    Similarly, no one is going to take the reverse statement any more seriously, nor should they.

    99 percent of people would agree that there is still need to regulate corporations though. At issue should be in what specific ways they should or should not be.

    In terms of taxes, I personally don’t think a corporation ought to be taxed. Rather investment earnings should be taxed as ordinary income. I suppose that’s another debate though.

  • gpclaw

    As long as the tax rate isn’t inhibitive, the profit incentive will still trump any incentive a tax credit would offer. Give business a 10% tax rate and be done with it.

    The other issue with any form of tax incentives, is that it is later used as an excuse to come up with other forms of preferential tax treatment. I’m not an alarmist when it comes to lobbying, but if using the tax code to benefit business is a closed door, then that’s just one more concern off the table.

  • http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Reagan-Files/144699382218118 Samuel Pennell

    That IS another debate. Like I said, this article is an attempt to restore the reputation of corporations. If you go to all the schools and universities and polled the 15-25 year olds out there, I think you’ll find that 2% number to be too low. How about this number: what percentage of 15-25 year olds believe that all big corporations should be shut down? I believe it will be WAY higher than 2%, and that is too high in my opinion. They also happen to be the loudest cross section of people. The kids are the future people who will shop at and work for these corporations. This diary entry is also an attempt to roll back the trend in which the mentioning of a corporation is always followed by something negative. I don’t know where you live, but where I live, I’d say roughly 10 times a year someone I know will say “big corporations are ruining everything” or something along those lines, and zero people will say, “I think corporations are great, and I feel so blessed to live in a country with so many huge successful businesses.”

  • Menlo

    I doubt people that age are too opinionated when it comes to economics, and I suspect a great many don’t even know what a corporation is.

    I’d be interested to know where you are seeing or hearing this? Even among those who do have an opinion, you’d likely get no more than five people in the whole country who would actually seek to pose any serious threat to private enterprise altogether.
    People who benefit from corporations aren’t going to seek to destroy them. It’s an unfounded concern.

    Regardless, I wouldn’t take the sentiment seriously. People, especially in that age group, use all sorts of figurative language and hyperbole to grumble about life all the time. Lots of us are guilty of constantly complaining about things we know we are thankful we have.