The NEW Corporation – a Sequel

The New Corporation is the must-see documentary of the year. It ​reveals how the corporate takeover of society is being justified by slick rebranding of corporations as socially conscious entities. The film looks at their devastating power, from gatherings of corporate elites in Davos and support of ultra-right leaders, to climate change, spiraling inequality, the global pandemic, and racial injustice. Countering this is a groundswell of resistance worldwide as people take to the streets seeking justice, fair treatment, and to protect the planet. After watching the trailer, you can watch the entire (1:46:39) film online.

THE GREED ECONOMY IS KILLING US, BUT CHANGE IS COMING.

As I’ve learned since founding Modern Health Talk, reforming our broken healthcare system and fully recovering from the pandemic depends on fixing our broken political system and addressing the extreme inequality and corporate greed that makes these systems so corrupt.

Sadly, greed underlies nearly every other issue politicians and voters face, and it’s not just healthcare. The profit motive also affects economic policy, the environment, the judicial system, immigration, religious liberty, racial relations, fair trade, public education, infrastructure, gun safety, and so much more. So this documentary naturally caught my attention.

CORONA IS THE VIRUS BUT CAPITALISM IS THE PANDEMIC.

The COVID pandemic exposed a new corporate playbook and a global problem with extreme inequality, corporate greed, and political corruption. It also helped spark a growing resistance movement among Progressives to benefit all of society rather than just the super-wealthy. 

THE NEW CORPORATE PLAYBOOK

1. Present Yourself as a Friend and Ally
2. Turn People Against Your Adversaries (Government)
3. Don’t Pay Your Fair Share (Tax Cuts, Tax Havens, Tax Avoidance)
4. Take Whatever You Can (Starve the Beast, then Privatize Public Services)
5. Use Information to Control People
6. Manipulate People’s Worldview (and Make us want to Work)
7. Exploit Unequal Advantage
8. Control Those Who Might Control You (Make Government Subservient)
9. Break Laws That Get In Your Way 
10. Win At All Cost

MORE NOTES from The New Corporation

According to market research by IBISWorld, the total global revenues for the oil and gas drilling sector came to approximately $2.1 trillion in 2021. But by contrast, healthcare spending in the U.S. alone came to over $4 trillion per year, so I’m disappointed the film didn’t spend more time covering that. 

The message of this film will almost certainly be overshadowed by alternative messaging from corporate elites that keep promoting division and diverting blame of social woes onto others, including immigrants, gays, and Progressives. We see it in conspiracy theories spewed by Fox News, OAN, and NewsMax. Sadly, many conservative voters are influenced by that disinformation and believe in Trump’s “Big Lie.” They are refusing to get vaccinated or wear a mask, and they’re even intimidating local school board officials. If you wonder why that is, just look back to the New Corporate Playbook and watch this movie.

More and more, disenfranchised workers and civic activists are running for political office as Progressives, citing extreme inequality as the moral issue of our times. While the film may come across as pro-socialism and anti-capitalism, I don’t think capitalism itself is the problem. After all, it provides financial incentives that encourage people to study and work hard, to take risks, create their own businesses, and invest in their own future. But as I’ve also written here before, U.S. capitalism is broken, and so is our healthcare system and our politics.

THE CORPORATION (ORIGINAL)

This new film is billed as a necessary sequel to the original, The Corporation, which was produced in 2007. That original film was an all time favorite of mine, and I wrote about it several years ago, where I include a link to watch the full movie. It gives a history of how corporations evolved into an organization structure legally required to serve the investment interests of shareholders – above all else. So with CEO compensation and a profit motive focused on quarterly stock prices, it’s no wonder corporate behavior can be so self-serving and characterized as like a sociopath.