Blatant
lies, PR cover-ups, and a culture of total impunity are now central to the
corporate business model.
As a raker of muck, it’s my job to root out the nefarious doings
and innate immorality of the corporate creature.
But these days I’m being rendered obsolete by how ordinary
corporate nefariousness has become.
The wrongdoings of major corporations, and
even entire industries, are now so commonplace that one hardly has to root them
out at all. Their corruption is constantly oozing to the surface of today’s
fetid corporate swamp on its own.
What’s happened is that a profiteering imperative has taken hold
of the executive suites. Not content with merely making a profit, CEOs are out
to make a killing — no matter what it costs the rest of us.
Top executives have seen that they’ll pay no personal price for
rapacious behavior, since the corrupted political and judicial systems show no
serious interest in prosecuting perpetrators who get caught.
In recent months, two huge examples of this rampant crime spree
have erupted.
In one, after Big Pharma bought out several reasonably priced
medicines from independent drug makers —including a
vital AIDS medication — the
avaricious giants immediately
gouged unsuspecting patients by
quadrupling their prices or worse.
In the other, Volkswagen joined the automobile hall of shame by
secretly rigging computers on its much-hyped “green” vehicles to hide the fact
that they actually spew horrendous amounts of pollution into Earth’s
atmosphere.
An ethos of “anything goes” now rules the top floor of suites of
most major corporations. Blatant lies, PR cover-ups, and a culture of total
impunity are now central to the corporate business model. They don’t care if
they get caught. Profit has taken ethics prisoner, and corporate elites now
call the devil “partner.”
OtherWords
columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker.
He’s also the editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown, and a member of the
Public Citizen board. OtherWords.org.