Why do corporations get away with murder ?

[Halicia]

Something that's been bugging me for a while...

If I'm speeding in a car, and get caught... I'll probably get fined... possibly upwards of a couple weeks pay.

If I accidentally hit someone, I'll get thrown in jail for manslaughter and have certain aspects of my citizenship revoked for life.

If I see the person in front of me and step on the gas, I'll possibly have my life ended depending on the state.

If a corporation knowingly makes dangerous choices 'to increase profits', that ends up killing dozens of people... they usually get away with a speeding ticket for MAYBE a day's income... or find a scapegoat to face criminal charges.

That's like saying "Hey, I know I sped through that schoolyard full of children, but it was my foot's fault."

I know it's fairly difficult to punish a corporate entity, but shouldn't extreme cases resulting in human death be subject to an equal punishment as their human counterparts ? Such as discorporating a business that knowingly choose to lets its customers & employees die in furtherance of 'profit' ?

[Xeones]

They own politicians.

[Wilian]

I still find hilarious the comparisation between the fairly recent river poisoning by a company that influenced hundreds of thousands of people and invidual doing the said poisoning. If it's corporation, it's okay. Maybe a slap on wrist at most. But boy if it was some invidual doing that scale of thing US would probably be already looking for new target to assault with military.

[Kujako]

Because that's the whole point of a corporation. To limit liability. Which is also why the argument that they have the same rights as people is silly.

[Zoaric]

Power and money. Get those two things, use them properly, and it takes a helluva
screw-up to take you down.

[RoryTee]

Because we let them.

[Elegiac]

Because we have a society full of corporate apologists.

[Wilian]

Because there is too much regulation on the way of flow of free market. We need to reduce regulation so that the markets can do what they do best and work this out.

[Elegiac]

Because there is too much regulation on the way of flow of free market. We need to reduce regulation so that the markets can do what they do best and work this out.

Even as a joke that isn't funny.

[lawow74]

The Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.

[Wilian]

Even as a joke that isn't funny.

Joke? Right wing touts that daily as a fact.

[zoomgpally]

They own politicians.

This.

Only solution would be for politicians not to be allowed to own anything, then they couldn't be bought(but then again, who would volunteer for that?)

[Elegiac]

Joke? Right wing touts that daily as a fact.

How quickly people forget leaded petroleum.

[Dezerte]

It is disturbing, it really is.

But I'm hopeful about the future, at least for Sweden.

[Pitkanen]

It's because the NSA is too busy searching prole gmail messages and facebook posts to snoop into these companies correspondence to weed through the documents that could find the individuals that were actually negligent.

In the case of the West Virgina spill, the state could always sue itself for not inspecting massive chemical storage containers 1 mile upstream of the drinking water treatment plant for over 20 years.
The most humorous thing, WV isn't actually increasing it's monitoring of coal runoff/coal chemical storage, they're actually putting more regulations on the water treatment plants instead. So hope is lost.

[Lenonis]

As a country we need to make a decision about whether or not corporations are people.

Cause right now they get to hop back and forth as they see fit and reap all the advantages and none of the disadvantages of their position.

Unfortunately as a country we are heading in the wrong direction as the SCOTUS just keeps making it easier and easier for corporations to buy politicians to do their bidding.

[Wilian]

As a country we need to make a decision about whether or not corporations are people.

I must live in a mad, mad world when decisions like that are actually reality.....

[Dellis0991]

The rich run this country and they don't give a damn about you, your family, or your lives. Hell they get a bigger or almost a complete say so in how America is run and they make sure the laws favor them. Those who have the money have the power and supplies to do whatever the hell they like....oh god I almost sound like one those gun freaks for "Murica" folks....but its true.

[Abysal]

I don't know. I'd also like to know why the government is allowed to get away with murder? Killing innocent civilians and calling it "collateral damage." At least corporations usually are forced to pay millions of dollars to the victims families when they screw up. When the government screws up, not only do they get a free pass but half the population rallies behind them and praises them.

When the people enforcing the laws get away with injustice, why would you expect them to properly enforce justice on corporations or anyone else for that matter?

[Khaza-R]

Its called cronyism.

Essentially they own the policy-makers.