Charlie Rose

vongleichent  02/24/2012 05:09 PM Report

I totally agree europeans are fare behind when it comes to donation or giving away. This is more and more changing even though at a very slow past. This is something that I admire about US people giving away money is for them a duty or natural.

JohnGelles  07/02/2011 06:34 PM Report

Well I took Sharks-with-razors hint and watch Colbert tell it as it is with crony-corrupt-casino-capitalism.

In the case covered, Romney is shown to be one of the corrupt greed-obsessed Americans who sees the corporation as a monster free to reward opportunists by punishing workers,consumers, communities and nations. He mentions their duty to owners but shows they even screw every owner who cannot screw them first.

The video is first class. Thanks Sharks-with-scissors. I mentioned today on a CR archive page that corporations are the solution not the problem.

While I was preparing to be a corporate lawyer I was taught at Law School, a corporation was duty bound to be a positive productive means in an economy working for the nation, state, county and city, its employees, customers, suppliers, and every human being whose law had licensed it to be a human too. A human who would not die when founders die. Too bad the lawyers' "Mafia" took over and has been destroying all the good that built the Erie Canal and other projects of the original corporations.

My reason for championing the corporation is that they form right size units for an efficient government to regulate into obedience to the golden rule. And if we supplement consumer incomes with greenbacks necessary for the public good, we can stop direct involuntary taxation, poverty, pollution and other strange fruits of the industrial age.

Direct taxes are never necessary. All taxes are needed only to prevent counter-productive inflation. Indirect taxes are levied on sales of things that no one has to buy. Like imports. And like stuff that's bad but not illegal.

In all events, the corporation is a very convenient business form for very large projects. It ought to be limited to such function. And it ought to be used to protect the nation as the nation uses it to protect us from scarcity, poverty, pollution and bad conduct.

The idea of limited liability which is also featured for investors who want to own a corporation more than justifies government rules to limit the power of corporations to serve less than all who depend on it for a job, a product, or other benefit corporations promise explicitly or implicitly in the course of ordinary business. There is nothing wrong with corporations that can't be cured with common fairness and common sense.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  06/14/2011 01:14 PM Report

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/389132/june-09-2011/the-word---the-business-en d

Charlie, I am glad you asked about Bain. Please take 5 and a half minutes and watch the link above.

REMant  06/14/2011 10:53 AM Report

Philanthropy in recent decades, rather like lobbying and sex, has become a very big business. But, quite frankly, I think if they don't shape up soon they run the risk of falling in public estimation to the level of politicians and probate courts. There are far too many charities to begin with, and too many that seem to exist only to line managerial pockets. They generate far too much mail, tacky gifts, and phone calls. So much that I'd have to advise ppl the personal cost isn't worth the satisfaction. They really ought to be put on the Do Not Call Registry and have their non-profit status taken away. And I sincerely doubt whether they are anymore efficient than govt, or anymore democratic. As I said so many times before if this country's economy was run halfway decently there wouldn't be so many ppl with so much money and so many others with so little. And, in any case, ownership of anything in modern society just confers status and is worthless without the rest.