Who’s in Charge Here?
I think by many rational standards the corporation is the dominant form of life on this planet.
In a sense, humans exist as a means as a way for our DNA to replicate itself. It’s that molecule that started it all and on a biological level it is for that molecule that we exist. Of course, that is only true in the most academic and superficial levels. We are complex beings and there are many things that concern us far more than simply propagating our DNA. We have outgrown our original, biological purpose. While we cannot survive without the thousands of species of bacteria that exist within us, we don’t live for them and think nothing of slaughtering them by the millions when we, say, take a drink of wine or brush our teeth.
The corporation as a legal entity originally existed for a clearly defined purpose and span of time. They have now taken on a life of their own. They outlive their creators, they pursue their own objectives that are often quite contradictory to those of the humans that supposedly comprise them.
Undoubtedly, lampreys think sharks exist solely for their benefit, and we like to think that we spend a third of our wakening hours in service to a corporation so that we can experience some direct benefit. And yet most signs of wealth and success in this world are based on how much money you can funnel back to some other corporation by means of consumption. We are an essential part of the ecosystem, but the corporation is at the top of the food chain.
In fact, if one accepts the idea that we exist to propagate DNA, then corporations own many life forms, including us. The US Patent Office is accepting patents on human gene sequences. Corporations now own the fundamental reason for our existence.
These are the kinds of thoughts that keep me off the management fast track