You are painting corporations with a pretty wide brush here. That's like saying that the Catholic Church is evil because a few priests like to fool around with the alter boys, or saying that all artists are gay. Oh wait, according to you, there is nothing wrong with that. All kidding aside, it's the bad apples that get most of the publicity.
Coming from a small business background as I do, I would agree with you, except that I have worked for a few corporations myself. While they lack the homespun charm of the Mom and Pop stores, they generally pay better. Of course they don't pay any more than they have to, just like most people don't pay any more than they have to for the goods and services that they purchase. The main reason that corporations are more competitive with both prices and wages is something called "the economy of scale". Not always, but usually, the bigger you are, the better prices you can negotiate with your suppliers. That's also why labor unions were formed in the first place. Too bad about those unions. They rose to the occasion, had their moment in the sun, and then faded away like the morning dew. Hopefully they will be replaced someday by something that is more effective, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Maybe corporations will also evolve into something better but, until they do, we're stuck with them. Mom and Pop still have their niche to fill, but we can't rely on them to produce on the scale that the modern economy demands.
I found out who write the article that I read about that Virginia rape story. He wrote a follow up article about it today, and I'm sure it's the same guy. He is Gene Lyons, a syndicated columnist who writes for the Arkansas Times. He comes down left of center on most issues, but he seems to value truth over ideology. He has previously lamented the sorry state of journalism today.
Another article of interest in today's paper : "Travel industry carefully eyeing Cuba tourism." Apparently Cuba was a popular tourist destination before Castro, and some people hope to make it into one again. They are cautiously optimistic for now, because it's still a long way from being a done deal. I said "some people", but I really meant "some corporations", like airlines and hotel chains. So if you ever get to take a vacation in Cuba, you will have corporations as well as the government to thank for it.
Another article of interest was the one about the states legalizing pot and what, if anything, the new GOP congress is likely to do about it. One interesting comment from Philip Wallach of the Brookings Institution, a Washington based think tank: "They're sort of asking for a head-on collision with states' rights." I seem to remember one of the learned scholars at the Beaglesonian Institute saying the same thing awhile back. Is it possible that this guy stole the idea from us? Should we sue him or something?
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