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ameyawarde's review
5.0
This book was a surprisingly vital read. I have known that corporations are pulling the strings of our government these days, but I had no idea just how little I understood how they were run and how tightly controlled they are by laws that literally force them to screw over public health&safety, the environment, worker well-being, and "the public good" in order to maximize shareholder profits.
I knew that's the M.O. of corporations, but I thought that it was horrible, sh*tty CEOs & shady over-ambitious business people responsible for it, and I figured that (in addition to regulations), getting decent humans into these corporate positions could drastically change the world for the better, by caring about "the public good" in addition to profits. I had no idea that there were such robust laws in place that actually prevents good folks from doing exactly that, AND how the WTO is a tool of the corporations to prevent governments from passing laws to regulate corporations in any way that would mitigate their negative effects on the public/environment that would impinge on their profits.
And I didn't have any idea how many of the legit-sh*tty business people truly considered it IMMORAL (!) for a CEO to try to protect the public or the environment if it would prevent so much as a single dollar of profit from the company & shareholders. IMMORAL! Wow.
I found this book well written and easy to read(/listen to), and very important for understanding the basics of corporations and their history, laws, and norms, and how that effects our democracy (spoiler: as corporations function now, they nearly entirely undermine the whole democratic process). It was also an important reminder of how vital regulations are, and how patently absurd the corporations claims that they can self-regulate are-- especially in light of the fact that they literally and legally CAN NOT self-regulate in any way that might cost a few extra bucks!
I knew that's the M.O. of corporations, but I thought that it was horrible, sh*tty CEOs & shady over-ambitious business people responsible for it, and I figured that (in addition to regulations), getting decent humans into these corporate positions could drastically change the world for the better, by caring about "the public good" in addition to profits. I had no idea that there were such robust laws in place that actually prevents good folks from doing exactly that, AND how the WTO is a tool of the corporations to prevent governments from passing laws to regulate corporations in any way that would mitigate their negative effects on the public/environment that would impinge on their profits.
And I didn't have any idea how many of the legit-sh*tty business people truly considered it IMMORAL (!) for a CEO to try to protect the public or the environment if it would prevent so much as a single dollar of profit from the company & shareholders. IMMORAL! Wow.
I found this book well written and easy to read(/listen to), and very important for understanding the basics of corporations and their history, laws, and norms, and how that effects our democracy (spoiler: as corporations function now, they nearly entirely undermine the whole democratic process). It was also an important reminder of how vital regulations are, and how patently absurd the corporations claims that they can self-regulate are-- especially in light of the fact that they literally and legally CAN NOT self-regulate in any way that might cost a few extra bucks!
laurenmiller100's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Easy to read description of the history of corporations.
lisalikesdogs's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't love this book at first but only because it talks about a lot of things I already knew - no huge new revalations. I really enjoyed the discussion of the effects of advertising and marketing on kids though - really interesting in the field of parenting and I'd like to read more on that. A good read, but not mind-blowing.