How corporations kill

What makes a corporation evil?

I think that really is the question that cracks it all open. Let's turn it around: Why should corporations be good? Well, it seems that there is no inherent reason for them to 'be good' or 'do what is best for society' whatsoever. None. However if the people who direct the corporation wish to do good, they are at liberty to do so, provided that they do not violate the prime directive: maximize the return for the stockholders. So, no reason to do good, legal mandate to increase profits.

The system used to evaluate profits is blind to environmental and social destruction. So clear-cutting forests makes corporate sense. As does dumping pollution anywhere you can. The world environment and society have no value in the corporate reckoning system, so they simply are not counted. Such atrocities don't make it into the ledger.

Thus, with nothing inclining them towards the good, and absolutely no reason to care about the environment or human welfare, but a clear and legal prime directive pushing them to maximize return, what should we expect? Add to that mix a set of driven, smart, CEO types, who have perhaps convinced themselves that what increases the bottom line is inherently good, and you have a recipe for a very efficient organization whose actions could be massively destructive.

No megalomaniacal evil genius at the helm.

But destruction, exploitation, and all kinds of bad stuff.

These kinds of men built tens of thousands of nuclear warheads. Sleeping soundly in their beds at night.

I remember from my days at Martin Marietta (now Martin Lockheed) a cool, family guy, softball coach, project manager who had a big laser photo (remember those?) framed as the center piece of his office. It showed MX missile warheads returning to Earth through the cloud cover, like a family of falling stars. He was a nice guy, a family man, and he loved that picture. And if they would have been mere meteorites, it would have been beautiful. But it wasn't. They were dummy nuclear warheads. He put that picture in front of his desk, so every time he looked up, he saw it. Why? Because his work made those warheads fly so precisely. He was one of the nicest guys I met during my time there. I liked him very much.

He was proud of his work.
I was new enough to be sickened with dread.

the commons and the FED

thoughts: the commons is the missing component in capitalism. Introduce a valued commons, placed under the protection of a trust, and banes of capitalism will be checked and the benefits remain. Please check out The Commons Rising from the Tomales Bay Institute.

thoughts: The FED (the US central bank) must go. It does not 'dampen' the swings of the 'business cycle', it creates them out of whole cloth. That's right: it doesn't guide us through the vicissitudes of a fluctuating market - it creates the risings and fallings to pump money into a select few pockets. That is its raison d'etre.
It was designed by rich bankers and is in violation to the constitution. It is not under government oversight, cannot be audited, and is controlled by private individuals who reap vast profits while contributing nothing to society. It's fractional lending system devalues the money in our pocket - an effective tax. It is the third (or fourth?) central bank in US history. The previous ones were shut down by an outraged public. Jefferson would not tolerate a central bank. It is by no means axiomatic that a central bank is either necessary or desirable for a nation. (check for yourself)
This is a core issue behind the question of "What's wrong in America?'.