"Today's individuals seek psychological self-determination. They are the origins of their own meanings, not a passive mass audience."
- Zuboff and Maxmin, 'The Support Economy'
In their visionairy work 'The Support Economy : Why Corporations are Failing Individuals and The Next Episode of Capitalism' Zuboff and Maxmin explore the chasm between 'new' people and 'old' corporations. They explain that people have changed more than the corporations upon which their well-being depends and that the chasm between those new people and old corporations also contains the seeds of the next economic revolution. 
The Corporation (2003) - a film by Mark Achbar, Jenniffer Abbott & Joel Bakan - shows us why corporations are failing individuals. This award-winning documentary was broadcasted on television in The Netherlands by Llink on Wednesday the 21st of December 2005 from 23:55h to 00:52h. Luckily I zapped through some tv-channels before I wanted to go to bed and suddenly found myself stuck to the screen. Some things that were shown felt as a cold shower (as I was keeping in mind that people like Naomi Klein and her NoLogo movement might perceive me as a 'brand bullie'). Interesting for sure. Food for thought at least. The next day someone asked me: "Did you see Lllink last night? WOW. They should broadcast more stuff like that!" He also saw the documentary in the middle of the night, passing by it accidentally, and had a sort of the same experience. Here's a quote that stuck on my mind:
"Do I know you well enough to call you fellow plunderers? There is not an industrial company on Earth, not an institution of any kind, not mine, not yours, not anyone's, that is sustainable. By our civilization's definition, I'm a captain of industry — in the eyes of many a kind of modern day hero. But really, really, the first industrial revolution is flawed, it is not working. It is unsustainable. It is a mistake, and we must move on to another and better industrial revolution. And get it right this time."
- Ray C. Anderson, CEO of Atlanta-based Interface, world's largest commercial carpet manufacturer.
I would like to recommend this documentary to all of you who want to learn more about 'the chasm' Zuboff and Maxmin describe in their book. It comes in 23 parts on YouTube, with a total runtime of approximately 145 minutes.
The Corporation - Trailer [01m:53s]
The Corporation - [1/23] What is a Corporation? [07m:14s]
The Corporation - [2/23] Birth [04m:55s]
The Corporation - [3/23] A Legal "Person" [05m:47s]
The Corporation - [4/23] Externalities [02m:12s]
The Corporation - [5/23] Case Histories [22m:53s]
The Corporation - [6/23] The Pathology of Commerce [00m:46s]
The Corporation - [7/23] Monstrous Obligations [06m:14s]
The Corporation - [8/23] Mindset [08m:05s]
The Corporation - [9/23] Trading on 9/11 [02m:10s]
The Corporation - [10/23] Boundary Issues [07m:21s]
The Corporation - [11/23] Basic Training [09m:56s]
The Corporation - [12/23] Perception Management [03m:00s]
The Corporation - [13/23] Like a Good Neighbour [03m:35s]
The Corporation - [14/23] A Private Celebration [04m:24s]
The Corporation - [15/23] Triumph of the Shill [03m:09s]
The Corporation - [16/23] Advancing the Front [05m:48s]
The Corporation - [17/23] Unsettling Accounts [11m:28s]
The Corporation - [18/23] Expansion Plan [04m:46s]
The Corporation - [19/23] Taking the Right Side [06m:55s]
The Corporation - [20/23] Hostile Takeover [03m:24s]
The Corporation - [21/23] Democracy Ltd. [08m:57s]
The Corporation - [22/23] Psycho Therapies [17m:17s]
The Corporation - [23/23] Prognosis [05m:06s]
If you would like to use The Corporation for educational purposes click here to go to the specific section on the website. It contains some links to websites from institutions with ready-made cases.
En ik maar denken dat ik een vrije middag eens niet ging vullen met Youtube filmpjes bekijken, bedankt hoor!
Posted by: Tomas | March 02, 2007 at 09:15 AM
Looking forward to seeing this. The subject is exactly where I am now...
Posted by: Raimo van der Klein | March 03, 2007 at 07:55 AM