ARE CORPORATIONS & GOVERNMENTS SIMILAR?

By: Erick San Juan

An American friend of mine, emailed me a very interesting information about the similarities of a corporation and a government. It came from a compilation of news stories called Unfiltered News by G. Edward Griffin.

It was believed that corporation was the essential flaw of the U.S. government which resulted in a collectivist government and political favoritism giving corporations unfair advantages over individuals and competitions (small businesses).

Griffin said that a government is very similar to corporatism and there’s a merger of the two, because they are the same “snakes under the skin”. He explained that everyone of the obnoxious effects of corporatism can be found in big government, and it is most naïve to think that it can ever be otherwise.

Griffin affirmed that governments and corporations are neither good nor evil by themselves. They can serve man well or be a huge disservice depending entirely on the terms of their charters or by the character of those who direct them. Corporations allegedly become evil when they acquire political favoritism giving them unfair advantages over competitors and legal immunity from crimes and the same thing exactly happens with politically connected individuals, partnerships or associations.

The corporations and governments have reportedly the same characteristic that led to widespread corruption and injustice. The fact that their officers and managers are usually protected from suits and personal liability for their official acts.

When crimes are committed by corporations and government agencies, the real perpetrators get off scot free because the culprits are the people behind and not the organizations. These are the political leaders or managers who make the decisions and execute the criminal acts. There’s no command responsibility. When crimes are committed by the people in government, the penalties are passed on to the tax payers. While crimes committed by people in corporations, the fines are passed on to stockholders. In both cases, the innocent are punished and the guilty are spared.

In both situations if only the culprits will be held personally responsible for their actions, most abuses will be stopped. Present laws enable people within those structures to escape liability for their actions.

Everything sounds familiar in the Philippine setting. There’s no more “delicadeza” nowadays. Government officials involved in grand scams have the nerve to tell tales and usually get away with crimes committed. The usual scenario is not only to “get rich quick” but to do big-time corruption and solve the problem later. What else is new?