I read lots of magazines. One of them is Fortune.  Because I want to know more about business.  Yes, I know its point of view differs from mine.  But, I still read it.  And, the newest editorial blew me away.  Because it was so glib and so wrong.

Allan Murray (22 September 2014 issue, sorry- no link is available) wrote “The Story of Business”.  He stated that Fortune’s mission is to chronicle the story of business.  I absolutely agree.  But, then he went on to assert three factors, three key challenges to business- both large and small0 in the next few years.  They were…

1. The Challenge From Within.  (Can global companies that were created to meet the organizational needs of the 20^th century satisfy the demands of the 21^st century?)
2. The Challenge From Without. (Public support for big business is waning.)
3. The Challenge From Abroad. (Capitalism and Democracy are linked.)

So, what’s my problem?   Let’s see….

His examples for the first question were that it was big business that built the railroads, telephone networks, and mass-produced automobiles….  And, they needed corporate bureaucracy to accomplish the results.

I don’t know… I seem to recall that it took the US government to build a transcontinental railroad.  Oh, sure, private industry was involved.  But, they needed US governmental money to pull it off.  And, federal and state governmental assistance to give them the rights of way  (usurping the rights of other individuals and businesses, I might add) they needed for their tracks.

Likewise, the US telephone industry was granted a monopoly (Bell Telephone), rights of way, etc.  So, it was yet another example of crony capitalism.   In case you don’t know, crony capitalism is when business success requires close relationships between business entities and governmental officials.  It involves legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, etc.

It’s that last issue – and the fact that corporations are playing the shell games with their profits (let’s hide them in Ireland- like that’s where they were generated; oh, wait, maybe the Cayman Islands are where they were made, etc.), refusing to hire and pay their employees reasonable wages while they flood their executives with financial largesse like they are the only ones responsible for corporate success- that has eroded public support for business.

Perhaps the fact that the poor and lower middle class of this country provide some 45% of the federal tax collections, the upper middle class and the 1%ers provide another 45%, while corporations yield less than 10% of the totals may have something to do with it. I am pretty sure that’s why public support for big business is totally eroded.

Finally, I am a big fan of democracy.  And, I am not against capitalism.  But, I am absolutely against crony capitalism, I am absolutely against the fact that corporations deserve all the tax breaks they obtain at the expense of the individuals, and I am appalled that some folks actually believe that corporations are people under the law.

Until Texas executes a corporation, you know that’s not true, too!