| From an IBM training manual (1979): >A computer can never be held accountable >Therefore a computer must never make a management decision The (EDITED) corollary would arguably be: >Corporations are amoral entities which are potentially immortal who cannot be placed behind bars. Therefore they should never be given the rights of human beings. (potentially, not absolutely immortal --- would wording as "not mortal by essence/nature"? be better?) |
What is the oldest corporation in the world? I mean, aside from churches and stuff.
Corporations can die or be killed in numerous ways. Not many of them will live forever. Most will barely outlive a normal human's lifespan.
By definition, since a corporation comprises a group of people, it could never outlive the members, should they all die at some point.
Let us also draw a distinction between the "human being" and the "person". A corporation is granted "personhood" but this is not equivalent to "humanity". Being composed of humans, the members of any corporation collectively enjoy their individual rights in most ways.
A "corporate person" is distinct from a "human person", and so we can recognize that "corporate rights" are in a different category, and regulate accordingly.
A corporation cannot be "jailed" but it can be fined, it can be dissolved, it can be sanctioned in many ways. I would say that doing business is a privilege and not a right of a corporation. It is conceivable that their ability to conduct business could be restricted in many ways, such as local only, or non-interstate, or within their home nation. I suppose such restrictions could be roughly analogous to being "jailed"?