- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Thomas Allen Publishers (Mar 12 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0887621767
- ISBN-13: 978-0887621765
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #291,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
Why is TV so bad? Are corporations moral or sociopathic? Wade Rowland pondered these questions when he was fired from his job as a Canadian TV network news executive. Out of these ruminations emerged Rowland's book Greed, Inc. Rowland, the author of books about Galileo and the Internet, warns that corporations have grown too powerful and have spawned a "selfish, market-driven society." Greed, Inc. covers some of the same ground as Joel Bakan's bestselling book, The Corporation, but where Rowland stakes new ground is by investigating how the modern corporation is a perversion of the philosophy of Western thinkers like Adam Smith, who he suggests would be horrified to see how businesses run amok in today's world.
Rowland doesn't blame corporations themselves or their executives or shareholders. The problems, he writes, go much deeper and are not restricted to a few "bad apple" companies like Enron and WorldCom. Corporations can't be expected to act morally, Rowland argues. They are fundamentally amoral, with only a responsibility to follow their profit-making interests. How can they be expected to fulfill the "social good" without being forced to do so by society and government? At the root of the modern corporation, Rowland suggests, is a flawed assumption that comes from Rationalist philosophers of the 18th and 19th centuries: that people are naturally greedy and selfish, while social institutions--such as companies--constrain people to act morally. If anything, Rowland writes, it's quite the opposite. Government should force corporations to serve our interests through stronger regulation and restrictions on their size and wealth. "Corporations are not human," Rowland says. "Corporations are tools." Greed, Inc. is not the most elegantly written or original of books, but it will appeal to readers interested in understanding the structural roots of recent corporate-fraud scandals. --Alex Roslin
Review
Timely and important. No anti-capitalist rant, "Greed, Inc." is a wise book by a thinker and writer of great good sense and clarity. Wade Rowland shows how we have allowed the giant corporation to run amok amongst us, and offers ways to tame the beast and re-hitch it to the public good. All who are worried about the mounting damage done to society and nature in the name of profit should read "Greed, Inc." without delay. (Ronald Wright, author of "A Short History of Progress" )
In trying to understand the aberrant immoral behaviour of his former corporate colleagues, Wade Rowland has brilliantly excavated the ideological foundations of today's business corporation, revealing an inherently inhuman institution inimical to any kind of morality. (David F. Noble, author of "America by Design" and "Beyond the Promised Land" )
In trying to understand the aberrant immoral behaviour of his former corporate colleagues, Wade Rowland has brilliantly excavated the ideological foundations of today's business corporation, revealing an inherently inhuman institution inimical to any kind of morality. (David F. Noble, author of "America by Design" and "Beyond the Promised Land" )
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A provocative look at a very real problem,
By Ron Waterson (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happen (Hardcover)
I have been a fan of the authors since reading Ockham's Razor. His books are always provocative, stimulating, challenging and ultimately satisfying. This one is all of those things, and it is directed at a very real and current problem.This is the best take-out of the ethically messed-up business corporation I've seen. It gives you the complete history of the corporation, along with an excellent discussion of morality, where it comes from, and why its absent in publicly traded corporations. Anybody who works for a big corporation at any level ought to read it, as should our political leaders.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you liked the "The Corporation" you'll love this book,
By Ted Austin (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happen (Hardcover)
If you liked the documentary "The Corporation" you'll love this book. It answers a lot of the questions left dangling in the movie, such as: why do ordinary people do extraordinarily bad things when they work in big corporations? Rowland's idea that calling corporations psychopaths is not very productive struck home for me. It implies a misunderstanding of what corporations are--they are machines, as Rowland says, and therefore incapable of moral judgement. We should not be surprised when they behave in immoral and inhuman ways, but we need to regulate them carefully. I though the analogy with the military was a good one. Like the military, the corporation is useful, and a necessary evil. But we don't let the military take control and we shouldn't let corporations, either. Highly recommended for ease of reading and original content.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you liked the "The Corporation" you'll love this book,
By Ted Austin - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happen (Hardcover)
If you liked the documentary "The Corporation" you'll love this book. It answers a lot of the questions left dangling in the movie, such as: why do ordinary people do extraordinarily bad things when they work in big corporations? Rowland's idea that calling corporations psychopaths is not very productive struck home for me. It implies a misunderstanding of what corporations are--they are machines, as Rowland says, and therefore incapable of moral judgement. We should not be surprised when they behave in immoral and inhuman ways, but we need to regulate them carefully. I though the analogy with the military was a good one. Like the military, the corporation is useful, and a necessary evil. But we don't let the military take control and we shouldn't let corporations, either. Highly recommended for ease of reading and original content. 3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A provocative look at a very real problem,
By Ron Waterson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Greed, Inc.: Why Corporations Rule Our World and How We Let It Happen (Hardcover)
I have been a fan of the authors since reading Ockham's Razor. His books are always provocative, stimulating, challenging and ultimately satisfying. This one is all of those things, and it is directed at a very real and current problem.This is the best take-out of the ethically messed-up business corporation I've seen. It gives you the complete history of the corporation, along with an excellent discussion of morality, where it comes from, and why its absent in publicly traded corporations. Anybody who works for a big corporation at any level ought to read it, as should our political leaders. |
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