Soc101 Online, Fall 2020

“The Corporation” Activity 

This is my favorite documentary. Required viewing for any sociologist, and any American who
has to interact with the formal organization (usually bureaucracy) called the “corporation”
(which, by the way, is ALL OF US).

You can see by the number of questions how much good stuff is in here, and your watching will
greatly improve your understanding of organizations, capitalism, the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution, Patent Law, Power in society, and a number of other ideas.

YOU WILL SEE 9 OF THESE QUESTIONS IN THE ACTIVITY.

You should print this page out, answer the questions while you watch the film, and then go do
the activity.

1. “What is a Person” is one of the oldest and most central questions to philosophy.
a. What are the key attributes of a person?
b. What kind of “person” is a Corporation? (The answer to this part of question 1
starts when Noam Chomsky, a famous academic, starts to speak)?

2. Corporations will often choose to risk the legal penalties for accidents, rather than paying
to fix the problems that could lead to the accident in the first place. What do you think of
this policy, in general? Answer two ways:
a. As a member of the corporation; and
b. As a member of society.

3. What is a “corporation” according to the video? (It starts when there is big text saying
“What is a Corporation?”)

4. One person in the film states that corporations “have no soul to save, no body to
incarcerate.” What does this mean? (HINT: You may have an easier time answering this
question AFTER reading C&V Chapter 9)

5.
a. What is an “externality?” (defined by Milton Friedman in the movie)
b. Why are externalities so important to corporate profitability?
c. What does it mean to say that a corporation is an “externalizing machine?”
(HINT: You will have to think about the answers to parts (b) and (c) – they are
not directly answered in the film!)

6. What are the goals that Nike hopes to accomplish by specifying the exact amount of time
it should take to complete each and every step in the creation of a Nike garment down to
one thousandth of a second (0.001 seconds) per step? How would you feel having your
life dictated to you and controlled to such a degree?
7.
a. What led to the “cheap and easy” manufacturing of synthetic chemicals and
materials after the 1940s?
b. What effects do synthetic chemicals have on “life forms” in general?
c. What effects do they have on humans?

8.
a. What is “Posilac” made by Monsanto?
b. What is the manifest function of posilac?
c. What is the latent function of posilac
d. Why does using it require giving cows antibiotics?
e. What effects does it have on dairy cows and the humans who drink the milk
(positive and negative)?
f. Are these problems counterbalanced by the product’s economic benefits for
farmers? In other words, do the farmers benefit more than they might be
“harmed” by the use of Posilac?
g. What was the FINAL resolution of the Jane Akre/Steve Wilson whistleblower
lawsuit?

9. Why do you think the protestors which invaded the house of the CEO of Royal Dutch
Shell were so surprised that he and his wife gave them tea and sat down and talked to
them?

10. Why do corporations routinely employ professional spies to infiltrate their competitors?

11.
Why did the September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers in New York instantly double
the price of gold?
a. Why did the bombing of Iraq immediately double the price of oil and why did
financial brokers want the war to go as badly as possible?

12. A woman from India describes “terminator bio-technology”, that is, seeds that are
designed to grow crops for only one season. What is the profit motivation behind
terminator technology and what if anything is wrong with it?

13. The movie discusses the issue of patenting the DNA and genes of living things; according
to the Patent Office we can now patent anything that’s alive except a full birth human
being. Do you agree with this practice? Why or why not?

14. One person in the film stated the following: “If companies don’t do what they should be
doing, they’ll be punished in the market place.” Is this sufficient motivation for
businesses to behave morally? Why or why not? Have you ever done anything that
would “punish” a corporation? If so, what? Did it have an effect or an impact on the
coporation?