Several articles over the past
couple of days have cast a fresh light on what appears to be a deep and abiding
problem in American society: the
rise of a particularly rapacious new oligarchy.
Donald
Trump was the focus of one article, based on his recent diatribe against
immigrants. Robert Reich noted on Facebook
“ . . . Trump has used bankruptcy and
corporate laws to shield his personal fortune, allowing him to amass huge debts
with little or no downside risk while enjoying all the upside gains. Trump also made his fortune by squeezing
employees . . . He typifies the modern corporate
CEO who’s rigged the rules, reaped giant personal rewards, and left communities
and employees stranded.”
This tension between corporate profit and social responsibility was reinforced by
another article this week. This one focused
on the decision by the CVS pharmacy chain to withdraw membership in the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, which has been lobbying on behalf of the tobacco industry.
As The New York Times reported, “CVS, which last year stopped selling tobacco products in its stores, said
the lobbying activity ran counter to its mission to improve public
health.” The report went on
to say:
The New York Times reported last
week that the chamber and its vast network of foreign affiliates had targeted
restrictions, often in developing countries, on smoking in public spaces, bans
on menthol and slim cigarettes, advertising restrictions, excise tax increases,
plain packaging and graphic warning labels. The chamber’s efforts have put it
in direct opposition to the World Health Organization’s efforts to curb tobacco
use around the world.
The
Times noted that the chamber’s stated
purpose was “safeguarding its members business interests” and cited a Chamber
of Commerce statement that “ . . . we support protecting the intellectual
property and trademarks of all legal products in all industries and oppose
singling out certain industries for discriminatory treatment.” In fact, it has mounted, in
collaboration with overseas affiliates, a lobbying campaign against
restrictions on smoking in public places and related laws designed to curb
tobacco use.
These
two examples reinforce the idea that unregulated, free-market capitalism is concerned
first and foremost—solely, in many cases—with profit, even when that conflicts
with the social good. Corporate greed
has become an end in itself. Too
often, the idea of corporate social responsibility is simply a pretense, part
of the company’s sales job but not a reality in the boardroom. (CVS, with its decision not to sell tobacco products, is a good exception to this rule.) The ideal of unrestricted profit leaves
no room for social responsibility.
Pope Francis addressed the issue of corporate greed during his South
American tour this week—the third article I read that brought the first two together. "The goods
of the Earth are meant for everyone," the Pope said, "and however
much someone may parade his property, it has a social mortgage."
The
issue has become increasingly important over the past few decades, as the
federal government has begun to “outsource” its responsibilities to private firms
rather than create government structures to meet needs. Perhaps the worst example was the
outsourcing of military support to private companies during the Iraq war and,
more recently, the outsourcing of our support for NASA to private companies,
which just recently failed to launch a supply ship to the international space
station. The conflict between
private gain and social good underpins the debate over the Affordable Care
Act. In the education arena, we’ve
seen some for-profit companies that offer online degrees be great at attracting
students with federal financial aid, but miserable at actually seeing these
students through to completion.
The result is that they turn our tax dollars into corporate profit but don’t deliver the
education. That’s the “social
mortgage” that any university—public, private or for-profit—must pay.
