This DVD can be found on Amazon. It also exists in a book adaptation and I have made a review of it here.
The documentary describes the history, the nature, the evolution and the impact and possible future of the corporation.
It takes a shot at the tendencey to downplay the consequences of corporate corruption to be the cause of a “few bad apples”, and instead makes the case for the corporate model itself to be the core reason.
The strengths of the DVD compared to the book are the illustrative visualizations and the interviews with NGO´s, brokers, scholars, CEO´s which draws an image of the corporation as one out of several forms of business ownership which, in the case of the corpation, generates huge profits at the expense of everything and everyone around it.
Considering the very early corporations being groups of people, who formed a time-limited collaboration to fullfill the need of building, say, a bridge, today´s corporation have no relation to the previous service a corporation entailed to the greater good of society and its people.
The movie tells the story of the legal efforts made to provide corporations with increasing power during the industrial revolution and makes it evident how we have ended up with a legal ‘person’ in the form of the modern self-serving corporation.
One aspect of this behavior is showcased as the corporation migrating to parts of the world where it can benefit from low-paid workers, until the average income rises as a result of higher employment, to which the corporation shuts down and migrates to another location with a low-cost labor.
The documentary draws this image to its full extent as the modern corporation is literally diagnosed as a psychopath, a pathological institution, which lacks human ability to respond to its surroundings in a compassionate and responsible manner, with the only consideration and purpose for the corporation, to generate an increasing amount of profit to its shareholders.
- Callous unconcern for the feelings of others
- Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships
- Reckless disregard for the safety of others
- Deceitfulness: repeated lying and conning others for profit
- Incapacity to experience guilt
- Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors
This kind of working environment makes me reflect on its possible appeal to people who associate themselves with this form way of thinking – which is probably why there is a link between psychopathy and leadership in large business environments
The tale of the modern corporation – and the documentary´s pathological spin on this business model – inspires me to adapt a line from the movie American Psycho (LINK) which is based on Brett Easton Ellis’ book of the same name. It describes very well my impression fo the modern corporation based upon this documentary.
There is an idea of an identity and a purpose, some kind of public tale, but there is no real consciousness, only a legal representative of a person, and though it can hide its inconsiderate nature and it tells you about its efforts in social responsibility and maybe you can even hear a smiling voice and a synthetic interest in you and your life, there simply is no one there.
The DVD on Amazon.
The book on Amazon – and my review of the book.
(Think about the irony of going to Amazon to look for a book that describes the malicious nature of a multinational corporation…)