Sociopathic behaviour goes beyond mere self-interest to include complete disregard for the consequences of one's actions.
Self-interest itself would be defined differently depending on whether one takes a shorter or longer term perspective. Anthropology, game theory, even evolution suggest that altruism of the enlightened long-term self-interest kind is far from unnnatural. Good and evil are not entirely subjective. The zeitgeist of each society does reflect a consensus on what it considers appropriate. If corporate entities enjoy the rights and protections of citizens they can and should, IMO, carry commensurate responsibility. The market repeatedy demonstrates its inability and/or unwillingness to self-regulate, however. So legislation, and/or market mechanisms that ensure corporates pay the full price of their costs to society and the planet, may well be the only ways to ensure corporates do not, in fact, have untrammeled rights to sociopathic behaviour. Corporates are collections of individuals, each presumably capable of responsible, if not altruistic behaviour. Why should the standards applied be lower when we're acting collectively in pursuit of profit compared to the benchmarks for individual behaviour or that of human collectives whose goals are not just profit? On 2/2/07, Biju Chacko <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
They have their own goals and internal dynamics. Any expectation that they would do anything does *not* further their goals would be mistaken. Any expectation that they *should* is also mistaken -- that would be inefficient. Companies should concentrate on being profitable, for example. If they don't, they go belly-up, people lose jobs, yada, yada, yada. On the other hand, individuals like you and I *do* have consciences. We also ought to understand the dynamics of the institutions that we deal with. And we are the ones who have to set up conditions so that responsible behavior is the best way to achieve the goals of the organisation. So you buy eco-friendly products or vote for sensible leaders or whatever. It would be very naive to think that anything other than an individual would be capable of altruistic behavior. -- b
-- "The future is here; it's just not widely distributed yet." - William Gibson
