Corporations as enemies in games and films

[Skm1091]

I notice that lot of movies and video games have an evil corporation as enemies or villians

Examples. Final Fantasy 7, Resident Evil, Dead Rising,

I think this disdain and suspicion of corporations is a holdover from our mercantile days. (see link bellow for more info)

https://www.bogosity.tv/forum/index.php?topic=1823.0

Companies like The Dutch & British India Companies were known for being very shady.



Opinions?

[Travis Retriever]

Ironically, it's a hatred of the state most people know they don't even have.  Coroprations--by definition--are creations of the state and cannot exist without it.  Nor are they free market entities.  What free market company has a debt shield, immunity, and other crap that comes from corporate personhood?

[Skm1091]

Ironically, it's a hatred of the state most people know they don't even have.  Coroprations--by definition--are creations of the state and cannot exist without it.  Nor are they free market entities.  What free market company has a debt shield, immunity, and other crap that comes from corporate personhood?

If privileges that corporations today get is bad. I don't even want to know what it was like during those days

[Ibrahim90]

If privileges that corporations today get is bad. I don't even want to know what it was like during those days

about the same really.

the British East India company was a lot like the AMA--only they specialized in Indian products, not medical licenses.

that's why there was a thriving smuggling business in the 18th century: people who otherwise would have made an honest living in trade would be shut out of the legal market, and be forced to join the black market. It didn't help that the EIC confined most of its sales to major port towns, preventing the products from quickly reaching smaller towns (in spite of the cheap prices). This meant that in order for some minor port towns and inland tows to get the products themselves affordably and quickly, they had to join in the business: whole towns being in on the act were not unusual. It's why the army in Peacetime--especially Dragoons--were so active in police work in the country, as well as in cities (to stop riots).

[Skm1091]

about the same really.

the British East India company was a lot like the AMA--only they specialized in Indian products, not medical licenses.

that's why there was a thriving smuggling business in the 18th century: people who otherwise would have made an honest living in trade would be shut out of the legal market, and be forced to join the black market. It didn't help that the EIC confined most of its sales to major port towns, preventing the products from quickly reaching smaller towns (in spite of the cheap prices). This meant that in order for some minor port towns and inland tows to get the products themselves affordably and quickly, they had to join in the business: whole towns being in on the act were not unusual. It's why the army in Peacetime--especially Dragoons--were so active in police work in the country, as well as in cities (to stop riots).

The AMA does not have it's own military though. Does it?

[Ibrahim90]

The AMA does not have it's own military though. Does it?

sort of: the government agents who shut down the competition

(OK, not exactly an army, but whatever. besides, other corporations will often hire them, or alternately enlist local military help).

[MrBogosity]

The AMA does not have it's own military though. Does it?

Does it need it?

[Skm1091]

Does it need it?

[Lord T Hawkeye]

It's funny how our beliefs come out in our art.  I can't spoil details but in my comic, a mob boss is more honorable than a politician.

[Skm1091]

It's funny how our beliefs come out in our art.  I can't spoil details but in my comic, a mob boss is more honorable than a politician.

Yeah I can tell.

Going back to fear of corporations you can definitely tell this disdain is from looking back during the days of European Mercantilism. If you look at Resident Evil the main villain the Umbrella Corporation had their own private military (USS and UBCS), much like like the East India Companies. Same with the Shinra Inc from Final Fantasy VII. They also acted with impunity much like the Companies.

http://www.learnliberty.org/videos/capitalism-not-imperialism

[evensgrey]

It's funny how our beliefs come out in our art.  I can't spoil details but in my comic, a mob boss is more honorable than a politician.

The mob boss NEEDS to be more honorable than the politician.

The mob boss is running a business, and like all businessmen, he needs to be known for keeping his word and not going back on his deals.  Since his business is, by definition, illegal, he has to be known to be much more scrupulous than a legal businessman because you can't go to a court and get him forced to comply with his previous deals.  He also has to be known to be merciless to those who break their deals with him because he can't use courts to enforce those deals either.

Politicians not only routinely break their promises (which they often make with the intention of not keeping them), they usually control the enforcement apparatus, making them effectively above the law and immune to repercussions from those they harm by breaking deals.  The politician actually gains by breaking his word in most circumstances.  (Back in the mid-90's here in Ontario, we got a Conservative government led by Mike Harris, who utterly flabbergasted pretty much everyone in the world of professional politics by actually doing what he said he'd do during the campaign.  People found a politician actually keeping campaign promises to be incomprehensible and even dangerous.)

So, mob bosses gain by being honorable and lose by being dishonorable, while politicians gain by being dishonorable and usually lose by being honorable.

[MrBogosity]

The mob boss NEEDS to be more honorable than the politician.

The mob boss is running a business, and like all businessmen, he needs to be known for keeping his word and not going back on his deals.  Since his business is, by definition, illegal, he has to be known to be much more scrupulous than a legal businessman because you can't go to a court and get him forced to comply with his previous deals.  He also has to be known to be merciless to those who break their deals with him because he can't use courts to enforce those deals either.

Politicians not only routinely break their promises (which they often make with the intention of not keeping them), they usually control the enforcement apparatus, making them effectively above the law and immune to repercussions from those they harm by breaking deals.  The politician actually gains by breaking his word in most circumstances.  (Back in the mid-90's here in Ontario, we got a Conservative government led by Mike Harris, who utterly flabbergasted pretty much everyone in the world of professional politics by actually doing what he said he'd do during the campaign.  People found a politician actually keeping campaign promises to be incomprehensible and even dangerous.)

So, mob bosses gain by being honorable and lose by being dishonorable, while politicians gain by being dishonorable and usually lose by being honorable.

You, sir, get a cluon for that post! And I don't give those out often!