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Life Forms Have Survival Instincts

Corporations engage in depraved behaviors for the same reason that any life form engages in depraved behaviors. That same reason is, simply, to stay alive.

If you believed your survival depended on it, would you lie? Would you steal? Would you cheat? Would you kill?

You probably can't answer any of these questions. This is because either your life has never been at imminent risk, or, even if it has been, lying, stealing, cheating or killing would not have helped in those situations. So we have to use our imaginations.

Imagine yourself as an American citizen in present-day Mosul, Iraq. You're dressed as an Iraqi because the townspeople are more or less hostile to Americans. Let's say you haven't eaten in a few days, and you're starving.

Now let's say you're walking down a street and the only other person is an Iraqi. He stops you, and says, accusingly: "You're an American are aren't you?"

If you tell that person the truth, you figure you're as good as beheaded. Without your head, you couldn't breathe in any oxygen. No oxygen, no life. So, faced with the imminent prospect of losing your life, do you tell him the truth?

Well, unless you're suicidal, the answer is: Hell no! You'd lie, and say you were an Iraqi just like him. If you had the chance, you'd also cheat him or steal from him to get some food since you're starving. And if he didn't believe your answer, and he started to call out to the Mujahideen, you just might kill him. I mean, if you were able to.

The point is, if our lives depended on it, ain't no telling what we'd do to stay alive. That's because we're all life forms with a survival instinct.

Corporations are no different. If they perceive that their very survival is threatened, they, like any life form, will "stoop to" lying, stealing, cheating, and killing, just to stay alive.

What threatens the survival of a Corporation? Anything that would cut off the money supply to the Corporation. What might threaten that? Consumer backlash.

That is, the survival of Corporations is threatened when consumers (i.e. we the People) come to see those Corporations as more harmful than helpful. Like any life form, to prevent that from happening, Corporations would do just about anything.

Starting with lying ...

[posted: 12/28/04]

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