P90x (Read 6266 times)

Scout7


     

    Totally agree.  But sometimes you cannot access the people or their names, but you can access the company and its name. 

     

    Sure.  But that still does not make the company evil.  Or good.  It just is.  Perhaps we don't like what the company does.  Perhaps we find the courses of action undertaken to be downright despicable.  But that is our own individual perceptions of those courses of action.  And that does not make the entity in question evil.  Misguided, maybe, but not evil.

     

    Anthropomorphism is easy, and sometimes useful, but it can also detract from the real issue.


    Intentionally Blank

      There's a great documentary called The Corporation that compares corporate activities to behaviors in the DSM IV.

       

      Legally, corporations are people.  Ask the Supreme Court.


      Intentionally Blank

        Anyway, did the legs and back dvd this morning.  My legs are awesome strong.


        Why is it sideways?

          A corporation is a group of behaviors, habits and structures, just like human beings are, just like animals are, just like natural events are.

           

          We call those behaviors, habits, and structures evil in order to express a judgment about those things: namely that we don't like their effects, and they need to be changed.

           

          I don't really like the label "evil" because of its association with a whole set of religious language that I have a problem with. But when I say that Monsanto is evil, I'm making no judgment about the people who work there (they aren't in control of Monsanto; Monsanto controls them). I'm judging the particular effects of the corporation. Particularly, I don't approve of Monsanto's actions in the third world. It actively and aggressively has sought out locales with minimum of environmental and social regulation and a maximum of government corruption in order to practice its environmentally irresponsible and socially bankrupt form of business. It has made decisions that have led directly to people losing their health, their homes, their lives, and their ways of living.

           

          I have a relative who works for and with Monsanto and their evil twin Cargill in Paraguay. I do not think this relative is evil because he works there. I see him as caught up in an evil and very powerful system that he has very little power to change. This system is funded by a lot of the choices that we (and I include myself, here) make in the supermarket on a daily basis. The "evil" of the system of food production is precisely the fact that we are all included in it, forced to make choices that lead to tragic consequences. When we are forced to make choices that lead to the destruction of people, things, and the environment--that's as clear a definition of evil as I could give. Monsanto, the corporation, actively seeks to bring this condition into the world.

          Scout7


            Yes, I agree to some extent, Jeff.  The people themselves are not evil, either.  But they are still choosing their actions.  Perhaps the actions make sense at the time, based on the individuals' reasons.  Since we don't know these people, and we certainly don't know their reasons, we cannot really say whether they are good or evil.  And if it is ultimately people making decisions that guide the direction of the company, and most of those decisions are based on past decisions that made sense at the time, given the information and motivations present, then is it really fair to say that a company is "evil", and acts in a way designed specifically to harm others?  Their actions cause harm, to be certain.  But I would say that most of the people making the decisions are not making them with that intention in mind.

               

              Then take a multivitamin in addition to eating food.  But don't depend on some nutritionism-inspired shake that tries to be a meal replacement or a supplement that claims unproven health benefits.

               

              Agreed. Isn't that principle part of the "eat food" article?  I wouldn't call a meal replacement shake "food"


              i sacrificed the gift


                Legally, corporations are people.  Ask the Supreme Court.

                 

                 

                Actually Sonya Sotomayor has expressed interest in overturning corporate personhood.

                Robot House Recovery Drink Protocol:
                Under 70 Degrees: Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout
                Over 70 Degrees: Dougfish Head 60 Minute IPA
                xor


                  This thread is packed full of... well... goo...

                   


                  Why is it sideways?

                     

                     

                    Actually Sonya Sotomayor has expressed interest in overturning corporate personhood.

                     

                    Yes, this would be a good thing, in my opinion.

                     

                    Corporations are like people in some respects, but in one respect, they are not. They have no choice with respect to their fundamental reason for living. They are legally forced to act in the maximum financial interests of their stockholders. This makes them more like machines than persons, and certainly alters the way in which they ought to be treated by the law.

                     

                    This goes to Scout's point, too. Corporations are not controlled by people. They are strictly controlled by the market and by the concept of profitability. People can choose to make choices about how much money they earn vs. other values, like caring for their community, enjoying themselves, protecting the environment, educating their children. Corporations have no choice in this matter, which is part of what tends to make them insensitive to many of the values that make the places in which they live and operate what they are.


                    Why is it sideways?

                      This thread is packed full of... well... goo...

                       Thanks.

                      Trent


                      Good Bad & The Monkey

                        The people themselves are not evil, either.

                         

                        If it is not the company and not the people, then is anything evil ever?

                         

                        Agreed. Isn't that principle part of the "eat food" article?  I wouldn't call a meal replacement shake "food"

                         

                        Righto.

                        xor


                           Thanks.

                           

                          Hey, from trendy exercise  program and pyramid scheme to the nature of true evil by way of lattes.

                           

                          It looks like that stuff from Ghostbusters II.  If I sing sweetly to this thread, it might make my laptop dance.

                           

                          I am learning a lot, though, which is cool. And I like to be random.

                           

                          e.

                           


                          Why is it sideways?

                             

                            Hey, from trendy exercise  program and pyramid scheme to the nature of true evil by way of lattes.

                             

                            It looks like that stuff from Ghostbusters II.  If I sing sweetly to this thread, it might make my laptop dance.

                             

                            I am learning a lot, though, which is cool. And I like to be random.

                             

                            e.

                             

                            That's true. I didn't click on this thread for the longest time. It is serious, amorphous drift. Fun w/my favorite internet enhancing drug: coffee!

                            Scout7


                               

                              If it is not the company and not the people, then is anything evil ever?

                               

                               

                               

                              Define evil.

                               

                              Less virtuous.

                                 

                                Hey, from trendy exercise  program and pyramid scheme to the nature of true evil by way of lattes.

                                 

                                It looks like that stuff from Ghostbusters II.  If I sing sweetly to this thread, it might make my laptop dance.

                                 

                                I am learning a lot, though, which is cool. And I like to be random.

                                 

                                e.

                                 Yes, I ignored this thread for a long time too but now it has far and away exceeded my expectations. I like swamp leakage.

                                 

                                i