Friday, February 29, 2008

The Corporation


Here is what the D.K. household will be watching tonight, Friday, Feb 29th:

LINK TV is showing THE CORPORATION in two parts. LINK TV is Channel 9410 on Dishnet Satellite. Click here for the channel it might be in your area.

Pacific Standard Time:
5Pm = The Corporation, Part I (2 hrs)
8PM = The Corporation, Part II (2 hrs)

Ever wonder how our world came to be ruled by corporations? What exactly are corporations, anyway? Beginning with a history of corporations and how their power grew substantially after World War II, this documentary examines the concept of the corporation, charting its development, its character, and the effects that profit-driven corporations have on the world we live in.

Are they destroying our world? Unchecked corporations have the power to poison and despoil the environment. If they are large enough, they are almost immune from prosecution.

Here's some promotional information for THE CORPORATION:
WINNER OF 26 INTERNATIONAL AWARDS including the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Provoking, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time ... THE CORPORATION takes its status as a legal "person" to the logical conclusion. The film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?"

THE CORPORATION includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change. THE CORPORATION is Canada's most successful documentary... EVER! The film is based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan.

*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****

Hey, as a bonus, LINK TV is showing "Blackwater: Army for Hire" immediately after Part II. And immediately after that, they are showing "The Politics of War" which examines the documentary No End in Sight about our Iraq dilemma. Looks like a good night for recording!

12 comments:

Cartledge said...

Bugger! I was going to write this one day. Mind you, looking at the list of contributors I wouldn't have come close.
Just the fact this sort of program is around supports my belief we are turning a major corner.

D.K. Raed said...

Cart:
you should do it! there can never be enough light shined on the subject, and everyone has a slightly different take on it. is LINK TV even available to you? They have a lot of international programs, and bill themselves as "television without borders".

enigma4ever said...

Cart; I agree with DK....you could STILL do it....there are plenty out there need a look.....thank you for posting this DK, for once I wish I had a Dish.....I am watching Bill Moyers and taking a tubby and resting my hip to get ready for the weekend....I love the documentaries.....we need more MORE....

Cartledge said...

You reds are incredible, even make me red (blush)...
I don't know what TV is available beyond the 5 free to air channels. TV has never been a primary info source for me so I'm really unsure what is available on the limited cable and dish networks here.
I don't even have a tub :)

enigma4ever said...

ahhhh so we can make you blush...well we both know about blushing....( when you this shade of pale- any color changes are noted rapidly....I look like a transfusion advertizement at this point!!!)

Some of the things that she is taping also might be available on Indie- Channels there..? maybe...do you have Netflix there yet? ( I have a friend in Indonesia and he says that the films in that part of the world are better than ours....)

No Tub ? oh no....friends with hot tubs ? nice pools in the area ? beach? pond? lake ? ....water is good for the soul......says I with a decrepid bathtub....

the Siberina Goddess is signing off...

D.K. Raed said...

you got that right, Enigma ... blushing is a way of life when the skin is transparent. redheads are "high coloradas".

Agreed, tubs are good for soaking and a hot steamy bath really relaxes the nerves. my goal is to feel like a jellyfish. funny this should come up ... some TV show today had a man in a bubble bath with a baby alligator & a baby crocodile, attempting to show the audience the difference in their teeth & snouts. hope he had on a shark mesh bathing trunks.

I watched Part I of The Corporation tonight (have taped the rest to watch this weekend). The "Private Army" special that followed (about Blackwater) was also excellent. This is all truly out of control of the avg citizen, but being aware is the first step, I think. They did answer the question "if a corporation is a legal person, what kind of a person is it?". Answer: psychopath or sociopath, take your pick ... no conscience, no guilt, no ability to form friendships, takes pleasure in hurting others, does not consider consequences beyond the bottom line, etc, all classic mental deficiencies that are used to define mentally disturbed humans.

D.K. Raed said...

Cart, you can watch many of LINK TV's documentaries in their entirety online. Check out:
http://www.linktv.org/web
you might have to explore their website a bit but I bet you find doc's that interest you.

Tomorrow night is another good doc called "Stealing Democracy" about U.S. election fraud, past, present & what we might expect this fall.

Cartledge said...

d.k. We pay based on download here. Streaming id fairly high download so I generally avoid it.
I preferred the Canadian approach and often streamed there. I would be more than red faced if I ran us out of broadband here :(
But somehow, in this heathen environment we still manage to stay up with the world. Must be my print background.

D.K. Raed said...

Cart, you straddle the world between techno-man and mid-fifteenth century quite well.

I don't recall ever being charged based on download. When we first computerized our offices back in the 90's, the local ISP had a limit of 100-hrs/month for the low base rate of $10/mo, but they never enforced it. Now I'm paying $55/mo for the only cable broadband service offered in my town. Oh, wireless is available, but not for our neighborhood because we are behind a big bluff that interferes with the signal. Same with cellphone reception. The bluff is nice as it blocks some of the constant west wind & also gives us early shade in our 115-degree summers.

well, so, you do what you can, eh, there in your "heathen" world (aka paradise) and we will make do in ours (aka back o'beyond).

Cartledge said...

We are hoping to go wireless this month, though it's still a dicey proposition here.
Mainly it's cheaper for us, but we still have plans based on download.
I was in pig heaven in Canada, coming back was a real let down.
But we do cope, make things work for us. Funny thing is I can buy my wireless card ex Hong Kong far cheaper than I can get it here. It is a crazy world.

Anon-Paranoid said...

Least we forget that the Corporations helped Hitler build his empire.

IBM, Ford and even G.E. I believe financed Hitler and provided many of his military machines.

And least we forget Prescott Bush who help finance Hitler through the bank on whose board he sat.

It's time to strip the Corporations of Citizenship and the rights of individuals. Why should they be treated better than an American Citizen?

God Bless.

D.K. Raed said...

Anony-P: you bring up a good point about corps having the rights of individuals. They have rights, but no obligation to act as individuals & face no personal pain for behaving immorally. Oh sure, they can be fined, penalized & even be forced out of business. But the corporation will never do jail time, it cannot face the fear of starvation or feel physical pain of death. Corporations are entities without bodies.

**********

In the program last night, I only got as far as WWII, when corps really took a turn toward soulessness. Before then, the original intent was to incorporate only for very large projects, like public works, that were too much for any one company, and were in the public interest (like utilities, railroad, waterworks and other municipal improvements). They would be issued a corporate charter with a limited purpose or life. But capitalism, being what it is, immediately saw the angle of limiting liability for the stakeholders (precursor of stockholders).

So, then WWII comes along, and the war machine cranks up, and those companies Anony-P mentioned were off & running to sell military technology. Even though corporations are legal entities, they have no soul, so they don't care which side they are supplying. Hitler/fascism was fine for them as long as they were good for continued business and increased profits.

That's as far as I got with Part 1... I think I'll watch Part 2 tomorrow.