From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Dec 15 2002 - 14:07:15 MST
--- Charles Hixson <charleshixsn@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> And there's just not that much money in destroying someone.
> Especially when you can buy them, and turn a profit. Also, since
> this commercial group is a large oligarchy, foreign firms are
> welcome to join, provided they play by the rules. Which can be
> difficult, as they aren't written anywhere, but one of them appears
> to be "squeeze your customers and employees for every possible
> dime".
Actually, they are. First off, you have the UCC, the Uniform Commercial
Code. Secondly you have GATT, which has been around since the early
20th century. Thirdly, you have regional rules, like NAFTA, EUCC, etc.
> The rules don't appear to penalize
> fraud by corporations, or extortion by corporation, or ... well, any
> of numerous activities provided that 1) it makes money, and 2) the
> perpetrator is a corporation.
On the contrary, the US has had such rules since the 1930's, and a
number of other countries have them as well. Incorporating only limits
the liability of stockholders, not of officers of the corporation who
violate the law.
>
> And, I will admit, that even this is an oversimplification, and that
> the actuality is much more complex. But destructive as it is, the
> corporate empire doesn't yet come close to a war. Even
> a "conventional" one.
There have been notable exceptions to this. Under the British, the East
India Company took over by force the subcontinent of India, after
acting for years as just commercial agents in a few ports and
commercial centers. The US has also waged war for corporate interests
in central america, specifically Nicaragua and Guatemala, in the early
20th century.
It could also be said that the drug war in Columbia is a war to protect
the domestic US market for consumer intoxicants from cheap foreign competition.
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