Forum Post: Who do y'all think are the worst corporations?
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 7, 2011, 8:32 p.m. EST by Spade2
(478)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
There's many candidates: Big Pharma, Big Banks, Big Oil, and many more. And there all pretty bad, but which is the worst? Which needs the most reform? Which does OWS need to target the most? Your thoughts and why?
How about Monsanto. Stop them before they ruin the world's food supply with genetically modified organisms and their ridiculous "terminator" seeds. These guys are pure evil.
Wow. Hear that mv. Monsanto is by far top on my list. Not only are they buying off politicians in droves but they are f'ing with the food supply in very very bad ways. Don't even get me started on the fact that they have patents on seeds. Life of any sort should never EVER be patented.
dupont, and others, also develop GMOs--probably some private companies too that non-farmers don't know about.
I forgot to add to my last post all the big pharma concerns that are pumping all our livestock full of hormones and antibiotics to keep the factory farms humming along, another disgusting and severely inhumane practice. People should consider going meatless, they'd be healthier. Honestly, all our food practices in this country is producing one of the sickest countries on earth to feed the most expensive health care industry on earth. How perverse is that?
I concur. I would add these to the list:
FOX (another propagandist)
Goldman Sachs and other bailed-out banks (stole our money/ should have been left to die)
Time-Warner (and other cable tv monopolies)
Disney
Um..... that's all I can think of now but my list of "boycotted corporations" is a very very long one. I HATE corporations. Not as much as I hate government (since it takes money from my wallet and has the power to throw me in jail). I think corporate licenses inside the U.S. should be revoked, and we'll just have directly-owned proprietorships or partnerships. The whole concept of "limited liability" is ridiculous. Back in the 70s Ford sold exploding Pinto cars, and nobody gets charged with manslaughter.
Stupid.
What the hell is wrong with Apple?
Nothing. The idiots in this country love paying hundreds for a stupid phone...
Actually Apple does a lot better than most corporations. They at least try to use recyclable/reclaimable material in their products. Their worst crime I think is that they practice planned obsolescence - releasing one version of a product one year and another the next rather than make their products upgradeable/modular/scaleable.
Apple is basically a mini-version of Microsoft.
They are not a monopoly, but they act like they are. In fact I'd say Apple is even worse than Microsucks because at least on MS products you are free to install any program you wish. Apple limits what software you can run on your iPad (or iPhone).
Apple also has an annoying policy of ending support for its OS after only 2-3 years (try running Safari 5 on OS 10.5 - it won't work). They force customers into a rapid obsolescence mode with continual upgrades that don't work on older OSes. In contrast Microsoft supported XP for 9 years with their Explorer product. (Therefore windows has about three times longer life.)
AND last but most important.
Their Macs cost too damn much. An equally-equipped Mac costs 2-to-3 times what a Windows PC costs. I can buy a PC for $250. No way could I do the same with a Mac. --- So basically you're paying 2-3 times more for a product that is only supported 1/3rd as long. Apple is the poster child for planned obsolescence (and therefore environmental waste).
Amtrak is government owned.
True but that doesn't make its monopoly status okay. I hate monopolies (because they limit freedom of choice). Besides the OP asked for us to list corporations we consider the worst, and Amtrak fits the bill (as do all the rest).
Yeah, I generally don't like monopolies either. But my understanding is that if there was no amtrak, there would be no passenger rail because it's not profitable. In this case, I would rather there one provider than no provider.
Yeah I hear the same thing too, but it's nonsense. Passenger rail gets used more often than passenger ships (travel across the ocean), and yet the passenger ships have managed to remain alive (and profitable). So too would the passenger rail service.
Amtrak should be devolved from the government and left to operate as a private company in an open market..... I bet within a year another company, perhaps Conrail, would start offering passenger service too. Within ten years you'd probably have 3 or 4 more companies competing too. Where there's a demand for passenger rail, there will be companies to provide the service.
I'd say insurance companies (especially of the Fortune 500 variety).
My list focuses mostly on those who do the most electioneering and propaganda. These corporations come to mind immediately:
All the big Media Companies http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-tv-is-the-voice-of-the-one-percent
RJ Reynolds -- The history of RJ Reynolds will blow your mind. Cigarette toxicity and various scandals are just one reason to include it. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=R.J._Reynolds_Tobacco_Company
Molson Coors http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coors
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lynde_and_Harry_Bradley_Foundation
Exxon Mobil http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Exxon
Comcast Corporation http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Comcast
Koch Industries http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries
AT&T http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AT%26T
There is no shortage of bad corporations. I see many well-earned nominations on others' lists. It is pretty much all of them -- all the big ones. That's what high-end multinational "competition" gives you -- race to the bottom.
USE Sourcewatch!
Damn, that's a lot!
you really shouldn't be condemning these "people"... ha!
Monsanto
Agreed.
For a chuckle on "Moninsanito", try :
http://occupywallst.org/forum/yet-another-miracle-gmo-food-brought-to-you-by-mon/
Apple.
Why?
They sell very expensive iphones and Ipads and make tons of money from people that cant afford to buy them.
And Foxconn, harsh labor conditions and suicides. They installed netting and made prospective employees sign a contract stating that they would not kill themselves while employed there.
Apple is basically a mini-version of Microsoft.
They are not a monopoly, but they act like they are. In fact I'd say Apple is even worse than Microsucks because at least on MS products you are free to install any program you wish. Apple limits what software you can run on your iPad (or iPhone).
Apple also has an annoying policy of ending support for its OS after only 2-3 years (try running Safari 5 on OS 10.5 - it won't work). They force customers into a forced obsolence mode with continual upgrades that don't work on older OSes. In contrast I'm still running the 10-year-old XP with the latest version of MS Explorer (windows has much longer lifetime support.)
AND last but most important.
Their Macs cost too damn much. An equally-equipped Mac costs about double what a Windows PC costs. I can buy a Windoze PC for $250. No way could I do the same with a Mac.
.
Don't forget that it was Apple's iTunes that made Digital Rights Management standard. Then, it was iTunes that raised standard song prices from 99 cents to $1.29. But iTunes did not standardize mp3 quality.
Fortunately, Amazon got into the business and said NO to digital rights, pushed against $1.29 songs (ultimately the media companies that own the music rights went with the higher prices and Amazon had no choice), and set a minimum standard for quality.
I'm certainly NO fan of Apple, but I believe in being fair.
I know your version is how it looks to a layman but that's not actual history. Steve Jobs wanted no DRM on his then-new music store. Unfortunately the companies told him, "If you don't use DRM, you don't get any songs." Jobs was basically forced into it. Either capitulate or have almost-nothing to sell.
To his credit he still provided MANY songs that were DRM-free from the very first day, and he kept negotiating with the record companies to allow him to remove DRM. Mr. Jobs never believed that freedom to copy songs from one device to another should be limited.
I don't understand this criticism? AAC is better quality than MP3 quality, so Apple's AAC songs are acutally superior. (Of course AACplus is the absolute-best quality but so far nobody sells it.)
As for cost, as the Fed runs the printing press and thereby devalues the paper dollar, it's inevitable that prices for food, energy, and yes even songs, will climb. Hek even videogames went up. I remember I used to buy just-released Atari or Coleco games for $25. Now they cost $60.
:-)
Correction: You cannot install IE9 on a Windows XP machine. You have to be running at least Vista before you can install IE9. I know because the company I work at has the constant issue of maintaining support for IE8, since all of the older company-issued laptops run XP.
I don't want a technical misstep to invalidate your post.
Well I have, but then I'm using a cracked version (remove the piece of software that limits installation to only NT 6.x). But you are technically correct that a normal version of IE 9 does not install.
I'll revise my comment: Microsoft supported installation of the latest version of Internet Explorer on XP for 9 years.... approximately three times longer than the typical Apple Safari support for its older OSes.
Monopolistic practices (iTunes DoJ anti-trust investigation), child labor (admitted by Apple no less) and tax dodging are all well known problems with Apple Inc., but all conservative moron DinkyDonut can come up with is a whine about free-market Apple's prices.
Well, then how about GE? They are a really bad corporation since they paid no taxes and the CEO contributed to obama. We should hate them,,, right?
Not hate, challenge.
Ge is a defense contractor, financial services corporation, media conglomerate and tax dodger.
GE Chairman of the Board and CEO Jeff Immelt is also chairman of Obama's panel of economic advisers. Go figure.
then why do people even try? i would not by a BMW because im a college student
Apple makes quality equipment and charges correctly for it. If people can't afford it and buy it anyway then people are morons.
"people are morons". Spoken like a true TROLL, "kingscrossection"!!!
Oh not at all. I just want ideas. Also ideas about what some of the public think. At the same time, I will throw in my own opinion and see what the reaction is.
Yeah, but when you talk that way - "people are morons" - you may not realize it but deep down inside you, you are putting YOURSELF down with the others, and that cannot be good for you.
Honestly, I think some people are morons. When you pay too much interest going into the deal knowing the figures then you have made a stupid mistake that could have been avoided.
I don't like the words "moron", "stupid" - they are too contemptuous. I prefer the word "ignorant", used in a non-judgemental way.
You write: "When you pay too much interest going into the deal knowing the figures..." But SO MANY people don't have the knowledge necessary to truly understand figures.
Even Albert Einstein was NOT a genius in every field - far from it! Outside of physics, there are MANY fields in which he was quite ignorant. We are ALL ignorant in so many ways... but that does NOT make us "morons". Nobody should think himself a "moron" or call others "morons". We ALL make mistakes, sometimes humungous mistakes, that we keep repeating over and over - but that still does not make us "morons". We must forgive ourselves for being simply "human, therefore ignorant", and not kick ourselves for being imperfect. There is no worse kiiljoy than self-contempt.
Before you start thinking that I am a cold hearted person I am probably one of the worst people when it comes to self-contempt. As to your other point, that is the reason that the system we have is set up. Henry Ford failed two or three times before he finally got his business going and look at the cars we have now.
Give me an argument other than calling me a troll please. It makes me incredibly sad that that is all some people can come up with.
STOP TROLLING like a parasite on this forum,"kingscrossection", and your joy in living will naturally return. Try it!!!
I'm hardly acting the role of a parasite. However, I do enjoy my life. Laughing with friends and making slightly perverted jokes gets everyone rolling on the ground.
I'm a great believer in laughter. But when you decide that Real Joy is what you want, your life will change completely.
What if I want to make people miserable? What if my whole purpose is to piss people off? Its not really but wouldn't I be happy?
The answer to those questions lies in your own heart.
Socrates used to teach : "Know thyself"... and that is the source of all wisdom.
Surely, you can do much better with your life than trolling.
I'm doing it. Trolling is a side job. I don't really see what I do as trolling
We are all so blind for so long.... One day you will see. There is great Joy inside you, patiently waiting to be discovered by none other than you.
Well that is very philosophical of you but I'm not sure if this has anything to do with anything. I want to be a lawyer so I can fix the problems we have. 16 and I want to fix a goddamned country. Saying it that way makes it sound way over-ambitious.
if you are indeed 16, now would be a good time to practice expression with an expanded vocabulary instead of vulgarity. it would be good practice for a profession in law.
"16 and I want to fix a goddamned country. Saying it that way makes it sound way over-ambitious."
There's nothing wrong with having high ideals. But are you sure that trolling is the best way to achieve your dreams?
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you can't lead with moron and get offended they follow it with troll. although the act of going around calling everyone a troll is itself trolling.
Isn't the idea of cheap goods to keep the prices down and promote more efficient labor?
Thank you for the advice. I never would have thought of it myself. Maybe its my hubris. Also I don't really have even a modicum of care for what a great many people think so that might also be a reason.
Fair point but that was his only point. Was I really truly wrong?
actually the product should cost 5 times as much and apple should be grown ups and pay the real cost of doing business. but thats just my opinion.
If everyone charged what they were supposed to charge would you or anyone really be able to afford their products?
it's funny how all the supposed defenders of capitalism tout the responsibility bit until someone points out the real cost of making capitalism sustainable. i am pro-capitalism but making it work isn't simply a matter of saying it. unbalanced capitalism is exactly the same as socialism as it leads to dependency on the state. what you call it hardly matters if the end result is dependency and/or poverty for the work force.
I didn't say anything about making capitalism sustainable.
well then yes, it would cost more. and you shouldn't be able to buy a McBurger for $1 either. cheap goods set an economy on a race to the bottom and accelerate waste. so the outcome would be impoverished people living in ghettos built on trash heaps. as simple as your question may seem to you, it points to the lack of rationale thinking and responsibility that has helped to lead us to where we are now.
Honestly, McDOnald's is poison and my children will never eat there. Cheap good is what capitalism is built on isn't it?
not so. the industries that proliferate in cheap goods also have poor compensation and are a drag on society/capitalism.
Love me some McDonald's! Maybe I'll go through the drive thru right now.
"the act of going around calling everyone a troll is itself trolling"
It would be, undoubtedly, but who is calling EVERYONE a troll? Not I, not you, nor anyone else on this forum to my knowledge.
Apple is basically a mini-version of Microsoft.
They are not a monopoly, but they act like they are. In fact I'd say Apple is even worse than Microsucks because at least on MS products you are free to install any program you wish. Apple limits what software you can run on your iPad (or iPhone).
Apple also has an annoying policy of ending support for its OS after only 2-3 years (try running Safari 5 on OS 10.5 - it won't work). They force customers into a forced obsolence mode with continual upgrades that don't work on older OSes. In contrast I'm still running the 10-year-old XP with the latest version of MS Explorer (windows has much longer lifetime support.)
AND last but most important.
Their Macs cost too damn much. An equally-equipped Mac costs about double what a Windows PC costs. I can buy a Windoze PC for $250. No way could I do the same with a Mac.
.
Microsoft and Apple as the worst??? Between banks, oil companies, and the koch brothers these 2 are not even close.
The worst one is "THE UNITED STATES" (brand name not a government) US Codes, title 28 sec 3002 15 A The "UNITED STATES" is a federal corporation. Not to be confused with "the united States of America" in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sec_28_00003002----000-.html It is hidden in plain site. We are protesting a CORPORATION not a government.
Most banks and wall mart as well as any corporations involved with the sale of unregulated derivatives via hedgimg then losing trillions and them asking for a tax payer funded bailout. Those companies. End corporate citizenship, support congressmen ted deutch and his bill occupied!!!!
Interesting question - but IRRELAVANT
corporations - even their ceos are not "worst"
it is not even their GREED -
that they, by their very nature, use to better themselves - to our nation's detriment.
It is the lemming Republicans - led by the the grovers and karls and dicks
and the scared Democrats - who would not fight to stop the slaughter of the American middle class
Ultimately, capitalism and corporations are not "bad" -
if we have a political system that stands with the people to cage the GREED
A shark does what it does - but not if it is caged.
Hey, I'm not against capitalism or the corporation concept, but I was also curios to see where people's anger lie.
no problem - my ager lies with the pols who made this happen and let this happen AND THE AMERICANS who ignored it
until OWS woke them up
100 years from now, no matter what changes OWS induces or creates,
we will be remembered for waking up America and the world
Monsanto, the genetics machine Halliburton and the other companies who are war machines
http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com/companies.asp
http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed
i used too enjoy being a fat , dumb and happy factory worker even at the lower end of middle class say 40,000/ yr
Who did you work for and why did you stop?
This is the worst company ever. No one comes close.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/make-a-stand-join-the-clan/
The Revolution starts here!
Didn't you know there was a race?
They're ALL competing for that title my friend!
OWS? The focus? The only single thing that could give control back to the people...?
world peace
It's the only way....that should be the focus.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50500650/yourtopia-your%20official%20final%20beginning.pdf
Raytheon, Northrup Gruman, Exxon, Chevron, Glaxo.
PG&E. They use government force to maintain their monopoly on electricity.
That's because electricity is a natural monopoly. It would be impossible to string 5 sets of lines from 5 different companies just to give customers a choice of which company they want.
Monsanto.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082559/The-GM-genocide-Thousands-Indian-farmers-committing-suicide-using-genetically-modified-crops.html
So it looks Apple, GE and Monsanto. Go after them.
Yep, according to people's responses, the #1 prize goes to Monsanto, #2 is GE, and #3 is Apple. Me personally? I believe tobacco companies are the worst because at least other corporations provide us something we need, albeit in a fucked up, exploitive kind of way, but tobacco companies are a pure drain on our society.
Tell everyone to toss their cigarettes out and it will stop the tobacco companies in two seconds. Right?
Yeah that's why they're so addictive so people don't do exactly that.
Occupy the cigarette out of someones mouth. Take it away from them.
That be pretty difficult but maybe...
I would think it would be easier to take a cigarette out of one persons mouth than to get pepper sprayed during a protest over 50 sq foot of a sidewalk. If you see a protester with a cigarette, take it away from them.
"tobacco companies are a pure drain on our society."
Allow me to play the devil's advocate. Tobacco companies are responsible for huge tax revenues (government at various levels makes more per cigarette than do the tobacco companies). And people who smoke tend to die younger, of relatively inexpensive diseases (ironically, if everyone quit smoking, health care costs over a lifetime would increase). And since they die younger, they do not draw as much out of Social Security and Medicare. So if Jonathan Swift were around, he might point out that tobacco companies perform a noble public service.
Interesting but I think all of those are solvable without keeping tobacco companies or encouraging people to die younger.
It was meant to be humorous.
Oh lol my bad, sorry:)
That's OK. I guess my kids are right, I'm not as funny as I think I am.
The question was to pick the worst corporation. I want to help pick ONE corporation and the OWS'rs want to support Apple. Cant figure these people out.
Apple is basically a mini-version of Microsoft.
They are not a monopoly, but they act like they are. In fact I'd say Apple is even worse than Microsucks because at least on MS products you are free to install any program you wish. Apple limits what software you can run on your iPad (or iPhone).
Apple also has an annoying policy of ending support for its OS after only 2-3 years (try running Safari 5 on OS 10.5 - it won't work). They force customers into a forced obsolence mode with continual upgrades that don't work on older OSes. In contrast I'm still running the 10-year-old XP with the latest version of MS Explorer (windows has much longer lifetime support.)
AND last: Their Macs cost too damn much. An equally-equipped Mac costs about double what a Windows PC costs. I can buy a Windoze PC for $250. No way could I do the same with a Mac.
.
The United States Federal Government is the worst of all entities.
That's not what I mean, please don't post irrelevant shit like this, it's not contributing and the government is fine by my standards. Sorry if I come off as a douche but I mean actual for profit corporations, not public governments.
There is absolutely nothing irrelevant about the United States Federal Government.
It is the largest entity known to mankind. Any corporation pales in comparison. It is like comparing a speck of dust to a mountain.
It is also the most destructive force ever created by mankind.
There isn't a single problem in our society that is not directly or indirectly caused by the Federal Government.
Agree. Corporations are not inherently good or evil. They are entities which exist solely to make profit for their shareholders/owners. Corporations do not exploit workers or use tax loopholes because they are greedy, they do it because the environment the federal government created makes those practices the path to the highest profit.
Remember, many shareholders are regular citizens who have invested through retirement funds. Those citizens expect to have money to live on when they retire, so the funds must turn a profit to keep the citizen's account growing, which means the funds push the corporations to turn a profit.
The government is just a mess of inefficiency and nepotism.
Either way it's irrelevant to my post, I said "corporation" not "entity"
You are not a moderator. You have no right to tell us what we can or can not talk about.
Your absolutely right, I'm simply requesting you don't post irrelevant shit, it's a request (that's why I said "please"), you have the right to accept or deny, just like I have the right to request.
cool.
Plus you are not a moderator. You have no right to tell the Repliers to your post what we can or can not talk about. That is a violation of Netiquette. Besides many branches of government are basically corporation (think Amtrak, USPS, the Fed) with many similarities (including the tendency to monopoly control).
Focusing just on the 20th century and afterward, the government has supported segregation fo blacks from whites. Imprisioned innocent Americans during world war 2 just because they had japansese grandparents. Experimented on blacks (exposing them to radiation). Stolen 1.5 trillion from the People to give to the bankers and corporations as bailouts/corporate welfare. Passed the Patriot "suspend the 4th amndment" Act. Killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children in overseas wars.
Raided people's homes for drugs, and shot grandmas, homeowners, kids, and pet dogs (people who were later proved innocent). Jailed people for years for the "crime" of smoking a naturally-growing plant. Jailed people like Private Manning without giving them the right to a jury trial. Fined grandmas and teenagers Millions of dollars for the "crime" of downloading 5 songs. Acted vilently against peaceful protesters. Fined and jailed farmers for the "crime" of growing too much wheat. Suppressed freedom of speech. Violated the most important amendment in the whole of the Constitution - the 10th.
Yeah.
The federal government is just "fine". I don't have any problem with them either. (cough)
I'm from New Orleans, I know what it means to be fucked over by the government, my brother was expelled from school for pot, so I know the ridiculousness of the war on drugs, but given all of that, I still have lots of faith in our government, mostly because of Barack Obama who I very much like. Regardless, that's not what this post is about, so I ask you to contribute.
Obama is a tool of the corporations that bought him during the 2008 election. It is illogical to trust him.
Even if you think he's somehow "immune" from corporate influence, just look at his record (quoting the Huffington Post): "The second election President Bush was not excused, because by 2004, the modus operandi of the Bush administration was clear. He wanted to 1) conduct wars against countries that did not threaten us (e.g. Iraq), 2) oversee large financial benefits to companies with which those in his administration were close (e.g. Halliburton), 3) establish a legal framework for riding roughshod over the liberties of private individuals who are not suspected of crime (e.g. Patriot Act), and 4) establish a massive federal apparatus to carry out such intrusions on innocent Americans in what is becoming a police state (e.g. domestic wiretapping, TSA etc... )
"The more-or-less global delight upon Obama's election in 2008 followed largely from the hope that Americans had realized what a mistake they had made with Bush's second term and were therefore voting against the egregious actions of the then Republican establishment.
"When most Americans voted for "Hope" and "Change," the above four objectives were at the top of their list of what they "hoped" would be "changed." After two years, however, we now see that Obama 1) conducts wars against countries that do not threaten us (e.g. Libya, Yemen etc.), 2) oversees large financial benefits to companies with which those in his administration were close (e.g. Goldman Sachs), 3) supports the legal framework for riding roughshod over the liberties of private individuals who are not suspected of crime (e.g. Patriot Act), and 4) is growing a massive federal apparatus to carry out such intrusions on innocent Americans in what is becoming a police state (e.g. domestic wiretapping, TSA etc.. )
"Put another way, when it comes to such things as the killing of innocent people, taking from the common man to support cronies, and the elimination of the basic values that make our lives worth living, we had the Hope, but we have Not had the Change.
.
I still have faith in our government to do the right thing. I'm an athiest so since I have no faith in a god, I have faith in people like OWS and the federal government. That is not to sat I don't have doubt, but I keep my faith in people overall.
yes!
There it is right there!