Corporations are rife with abuses. But at the same time, they're an easy target. People will shit in someone's backyard and won't think twice. But when a big, bad, faceless corporation dumps something, it's moral outrage with no connection of personal actions.
One of the alarming trends I see right now that I really hate is the whole bullshit corporate responsibility movement. Not that I want to defend corporations, I just don't want to cover for governments for failing to do their jobs. Business needs to be in the business of, well, business. And that means trying to create and do crap so people can have reasonable jobs to do it, society can progress, etc. It's not a noble cause, it's a necessary one.
The problem with all these corporate responsibility wanks is that they want everyone in business to effectively run side charities, and none of them recognize the inherent and necessary social good achieved by a business trying to achieve business ends. So corporations are now trying to dance around and tell us how green they are, and how they take care of their employees or people in the third world, or whatnot. That's either the job of charitable giving or proper government regulation and enforcement -- or both.
If part of the mission of business becomes social welfare, who the hell is minding the store? We'll all end up flinging our feces at walls in our caves, but we'll feel good about how our choice of a now bankrupt phone company helped the blind. And as an investor, I laugh at all these ridiculous "socially responsible" stocks and mutual funds. How lazy do you have to be to have to turn to some corporation to do your own charitable giving for you? Or to take care of your lack of government action for you when you don't even vote?
Businesses, for efficiency, should basically be in the business of making the maximum profit within the legal rules and regulations set by government -- whether social, environmental, whatever. Then the extra money from all those efficiencies can be voluntarily contributed into whatever additional social or environmental programs of your choice. Having companies try to run a profit business and then give back through the back door is putting the mission on them to do two different things, and consumers should get off their asses and have the freedom, and discipline, to choose how they spend those charitable dollars.
"Buy our product and we'll donate $5 to breast cancer." WTF? How about give me a product $5 cheaper and I give whatever money I want from what's left over in the best way possible?
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