The unconscious civilization

I was wondering the other day in my travels around South Fulton if there is anything else going this summer besides the mass of proposed annexations and the political maneuvering that accompanies them. It didn’t take long to figure it out. And some of it is worth a double-take.

For one thing, we have former Clinton administration Defense Secretary William Perry and Clinton Assistant Defense Secretary Ashton Carter both suggesting that the U.S. consider a preemptive strike on North Korea’s Taepodong 2 ICMB while it sits on the launch pad! A surgical strike by a U.S. missile to blow up the Taepodong 2 and its launch facilities where it sits, Carter said recently, would neutralize Pyongyang’s potential for striking the United States with a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Personally, I think the documented starvation of their own people is enough to take North Korea to task. Aside from the merits of conducting such a strike on a “sovereign” nation that continues to rattle its sabers in our face, the most unusual thing about the whole proposal is that it is coming from the defense leaders of a Democratic administration. Doves to Hawks! What a reversal! Or could it be more political maneuvering?

Next I ran across a curious report in the May/June edition of the Council on Foreign Relations journal, Foreign Affairs. Yeah, I’m a subscriber. The authors, from Harvard and Transparency International, gave an interesting report on global corporate corruption and bribery of public officials. In the fine tradition of conscientious, law abiding corporations that are always innocent of any wrongdoing, the report cites the Volker report on the United Nations oil-for-food program where 2,000 companies globally may have been involved in kickback schemes. From there it gets really interesting. They cite a World Bank study estimating that public officials worldwide take more than $1 trillion in bribes each year! That’s “T” for trillion. And that doesn’t count the figures on embezzlement. Did you hear this reported anywhere? CNN, FOX, Reuters, BBC or anywhere? I didn’t.

I don’t know about you but this report was not a total surprise, since the business conducted in a large number of nations is quite corrupt. Whether we can stomach it or not, the reality is that a huge portion of this planet is run by endless organized crime groups. If you find this difficult to believe, ask anyone you know who conducts business internationally about “the cost of doing business,” especially in developing countries. But do not be too quick to pity all the poor companies that have to contend with such illegality, especially some of the exponentially increasing multinationals. Many jump on the chance to dance with the devil, as we saw, for example, with oil-for-food.

Whether honorable or criminal in their operations, there has been a remarkable transformation of corporate consciousness over the last few decades. NAFTA and WTO were the “logical” steps to help transform the landscape of the American workplace into a service economy. The painting of that landscape is far from complete. A portion of that landscape here at home is the loyalty that many Americans erroneously believe exists with companies headquartered in this country. After all, we say, American companies are American, prone to put American interests first in their corporate considerations. Nothing could be further from the truth! American headquarters, American workers, American stockholders. So what?

Illustrative of this changing landscape and the mentality that provides the impetus for it, can be found in the recent comments of IBM President, Chairman and CEO Samuel Palmisano. Remarking on this transformation, Palmisano suggested that the term multinational corporation be changed to “globally integrated enterprise.” But beyond the proposed name change was another interesting statement, one that provides a glimpse into the corporate global worldview. “State borders define less and less the boundaries of corporate thinking or practice.” Palmisano said.

Like the Greek nation-states of antiquity, multinationals are powers unto themselves with loyalty only to themselves, with stockholders in tow. And sometimes, they chart the course of nations.

Whether in South Fulton, Cote d’Ivoire or the south of France, we live in an increasingly frightened world where the average person is afraid to stand against any authority over them. Money became God and the love for the profit replaced loving our neighbor as our self. Dumbed-down and with many afraid of their shadow, I sometimes believe John Ralston Saul was right when he said that we have become the Unconscious Civilization.