The corporations of today are the leaders or controlling powers of the ideologies within society and culture. Predominately we see this in the first world countries such as Canada and the United States. In Elizabeth Campbell's article Corporate Power: The role of the global media in shaping what we know about the environment, it is stated that the United States Supreme Court added the ruling that the private corporation is a 'natural person' (71). This notion of multinational corporations having the same rights, freedoms of speech and influences on society as that of a common citizen of the country is appalling.
When it comes to issues of the environment, there are advertisements and commercials thrown at us on a daily basis as to how corporations are doing their part to support the environment. This allows these powered individuals the ability to manipulate the public and create a positive image for their companies. With reference to the current economic situation, we see the government handing out money to several automobile corporations in hopes to boost their sector. Not publicized, are the effects of what will come out of a reemergence of more cars being produced and how it will effect the environment. Since these corporations control most central news stations and papers, they can eliminate any negative publicity that will reflect poorly on their corporation. This is how these corporations over use the freedom of speech and influence on society to gain what they want. They claim to be using their power to improve the environmental state of the world, when in fact they are hiding some of leading causes for the effects we are witnessing today. Can the government really deem the corporation as being a "natural person"? What makes the environmental situation we face today any more under control when we are not told the truth? Does anyone else feel like this issue of environmental downfall is being turned into a marketing and advertising frenzy?
The presentation touched on this notion of the corporate having the same rights as the citizen. Is this right? Should we be giving them as much power as they hold? Is there any way to stop them, or will they continue to use issues such as climate change to their advertising and marketing towards their money making strategies?
The presentation touched on this notion of the corporate having the same rights as the citizen. Is this right? Should we be giving them as much power as they hold? Is there any way to stop them, or will they continue to use issues such as climate change to their advertising and marketing towards their money making strategies?
"What makes the environmental situation we face today any more under control when we are not told the truth? Does anyone else feel like this issue of environmental downfall is being turned into a marketing and advertising frenzy?"
ReplyDeleteI think your second question answers the first in that the corporate powers don't care if the environmental situation is under control or not, they see everything in terms of $$$$$. You brought up a good point about how most corporations that control the media don't publicize what they do with the money the government gives them (for whatever reason) and so when you think about it there's probably so many environmental issues that we don't ever know about, nor will we unless we get right to the bottom of things and of course that would take a great deal of time and effort. Even things we do now about that are meant to look like such an improvement over the product it's replacing, still have adverse effects on the environment that aren't mentioned, some being even worse than the former product but the corporations in charge of creating it don't make that a priority and so I bring up my first point once again, that being that to them, it's all about the benjamins.
I agree that the government is handing out money to car corporations, but I think it is important to remember that Canada is a car dependent nation. The way our cities have been built is based around the dependence of automobiles. Suburbia thrives on the automobile industry. I think that the government, corporations and indiviudlas need to make changes for a sustainable future. However the government is reluctant to implement expensive mass transit systems and corporations would prefer that these systems are not implemented so they can maintain a monopoly on the market. Individuals are more than even interested in self worth and status. What a better symbol of one’s status than the size and amount of cars one can consume. Finally with the introduction of new eco-friendly hybrid cars people believe they are doing their part for the environment. But what the consumers don’t realize is that the production of these cars is increasingly harmful to the environment. These new products have become masking mechanism of the real environmental misconducts that occur behind the scenes. I think it is wishful thinking but it would be nice to see -in our lifetime- a reworking of the transportation system in Canada, and an alteration of the car dependent lifestyle.
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