Globe and Mail "...intriguing" Maclean's Winnipeg Free Press "a thoroughly readable historical look at the roots of the modern corporation" Mathew Beherens, Quill and Quire Chris DeVito, CD Syndicated (radio stations: CJSF, CiTR, CO-OP, CJAM) National Post Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress Vancouver Sun Kirkus Reviews The New York Times Montreal Gazette The Globe and Mail Publishers Weekly David Pitt, Bookloons "Galileo's Mistake has the lazy ease of a multi-course Italian dinner, at once relaxing and enriching". Robert Wiersema, Quill & Quire B. J. Hodgson, PhD, Trent University Faculty of Philosophy of Wade Rowland Purchase Greed, Inc. online at: Indigo.ca or Amazon.ca |
Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happenby Wade Rowland
The following review appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press
on May 22, 2005
Claiming the modern business corporation is "an alien life form" may seem like a bit of a stretch. Yet Ontario writer and professor Wade Rowland makes an interesting case, as he probes both history and the recent behaviour of well-known companies to try explaining the triumph of greed in our world. His thesis is that the modern corporation is a kind of pathological creature that overtakes the behaviour of its employees, even the CEO. Otherwise, how could people behave so decently as private citizens and so ruthlessly as business managers? Rowland has respectable credentials for exposing corporate behaviour. He is a longtime student of, and lecturer on, ethics. He has written about environmental issues. As a journalist he once worked for the Winnipeg Free Press. For a time he served, with a television network, as a corporate executive. What prompted Rowland to examine the corporation of 2005 and its roots? "We are less happy than we used to be," he notes. He has been struck by the uneven nature of progress. Offset by meanness, its forward march seems to have been undermined by the growth of individualism, of selfishness. Of greed. The engine of these negative trends is the modern, publicly traded, corporation. Rowland is quick to point out that he is not condemning the marketplace nor capitalism, but rather "capitalism hijacked and dominated by the modern business corporation." In fact, his style has a certain ruminative quality. He seems to be saying that he has identified a problem, and he is concerned about finding ways to analyze it accurately. And he is interested in posing some suggestions for dealing with the problem. As he reflects on history, Rowland finds two areas in which to explore. One is the change in world view wrought by the rationalist thinkers who challenged the traditional philosophy vested in organized religion. The second is the creation of institutions that match the resulting world view and shifting economic conditions. Thomas Hobbes is one of the key figures in the history of ideas, responsible for the "metamorphosis of Europe from medieval cocoon into bustling modernism." Adam Smith provided the rationale, though his description of the "invisible hand" was to be grossly distorted by successors, for the primacy of the market. Others contributed to the growth of attitudes and practices leading to modern corporate capitalism, with Charles Darwin (whose "survival of the fittest" interpretation also has suffered gross distortion) leading the way in Victorian times. Outlining the process by which large corporations came to be legally recognized as persons moves Rowland beyond the reflective stage. Whereas he is intrigued by the influence of philosophers and scientists, he is provoked by the manipulations of lawyers in advancing the power and range of big corporations. So Rowland sheds light on the growth -- and the menace -- of the profit-driven modern large corporation. What does he say needs to be done? After 200 pages of describing the problem, he advises the reader on the third last page that a "detailed program for reform is beyond the scope of this book." He does provide an outline of "what needs to be done" to rein in the power of the oversized publicly traded corporations. Essentially he calls for legislative action to place limits on their size and wealth. Beyond that, he implies a hope that others will pick up the challenge -- to outline a "detailed program of reform" to combat what he describes as the economic insanity produced over recent decades by institutionalized greed. Ron Kirbyson is a Winnipeg teacher and writer. Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happenby Wade Rowland
Title: Greed Inc.
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