Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happen

by Wade Rowland

Why is television so awful? Why do drug companies hide unfavourable test results? Why do automakers market unsafe cars? Why is our environment poisoning us? Why is our food so unhealthy? Why are we working sixty-hour weeks? Greed, Inc. places the blame for much of what ails contemporary society at the doorstep of a single institution - the modern publicly traded business corporation. We have become an uncaring society because the corporate ethos that informs virtually everything in our culture is uniquely and implacably selfish. The corporation exists for one purpose to make a profit. And such an objective trumps all others. Nothing else matters. This book traces the rise of the corporation from the Rationalist social engineering of the 18th century -- as well as the parallel triumph of moral relativism, consumerism, enterprise culture, and other dominant value systems of our time. It shows how a series of psychological and philosophical misconceptions institutionalized greed and self-serving behaviour as a good thing for society. Indeed the origins of corporate culture seem in retrospect so preposterous as to defy belief -- and yet these misconceived values now dominate our lives. Because of these notions of selfishness, we have arrived at a time when we seem at odds with almost everything around us. Greed, Inc. is a groundbreaking book in that it reveals the roots of this social discontent for the first time through the lens of moral philosophy. Anybody who cares about our quality of life and the very survival of humanity will need to read this book.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published March 12, 2005

About the author

Wade Rowland is the author of more than a dozen books, including Galileo's Mistake, Spirit of the Web, and Ockham's Razor. He is a former holder of the Maclean Hunter Chair of Ethics in Communications at Ryerson University in Toronto and currently lectures in the social history of communications technologies at Trent University in Peterborough. He lives near Port Hope, Ontario, with his wife, Christine.

Reviews

[Ken Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mainly agree with the author that corporations are an invented technology that needs to be rethought or restricted in order to avoid destructive side effects resulting from the only goal being maximum profit.

I also thought the idea was interesting that universal social welfare measures were enacted after World War II because they benefited corporations which were provided with "a strong, healthy, and well-educated workforce that was willing to take risks in employment and was ready and able to be retrained in periods of joblessness." But now that that need has been filled, businesses are less interested and those programs are being cut back.

However, I have an issue with his claim that our morality springs from something magical and unexplainable inside ourselves while often mentioning Christianity. I think we should be talking about ethics, not morality. I also think that our ethics can be derived from our naturally evolved empathy along with a desire to live safe, constructive, and more efficient lives in social groups.

He also attacks rationalism as an outdated idea on which corporations are designed. But that's only because he doesn't take reason far enough and tries to mix it with religion.

Humanity has only been remotely reasonable for a very short time in the grand scheme of things. We're still evolving, learning, and improving.

[Flip Niesten · Rating 1 out of 5]

During reading the first chapters I got the impression mr Rowland gave a biased description of the Enlichtment thinkers. There is certainly justified critism possible against the thinkers because they expected to much from rationalism but mr Rowland downplayed the important role they played in the development toward scientific thinking. I got the impression that mr Rowland is a christian thinker although he was nog straitforward about it. My suspicion was confirmed by some of the reviews so I decided not to spend more time with a biased thinker.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

...only let's not talk about the Government which licenses the corporations, let's not talk about the Government which gives the monopolies, let's not talk about the Government which takes from the poor to give to the Lecturers at the University, let's not talk about anything that has a relationship with Rowland's own god: the Government.

A deceitful book, from an intellectually dishonest person.

[Miriam Sachs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book presents very good, informed ideas, which makes it worth reading, but it could have been better prose wise.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely informative and thought provoking.