# NO! Giving corporations governance powers is not a good idea! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 13, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851 "2021-02-13T18:27:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/1 "2021-02-13T18:27:17Z")
Here’s the story: > **[In Nevada desert, a technology firm aims to be a government](https://apnews.com/article/blockchains-smart-city-nevada-e53b6c504ccaf9071cbfb607074eb719)** > > CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — In the Nevada desert, a cryptocurrency magnate hopes to turn dreams of a futuristic “smart city” into reality. You fucking unhappy power-mad fucking selfish jackasses: no. We did this in the 19th century and it sucked. Fuck you. Holy fuck; just look at the victimhood and entitlement on display here: > [@](#): > > Berns, whose idea is the basis for draft legislation that some lawmakers saw behind closed doors last week, said traditional government doesn’t offer enough flexibility to create a community where people can invent new uses for his technology. O.M.F.G. 😱 > [@](#): > > “There’s got to be a place somewhere on this planet where people are willing to just start from scratch and say, ‘We’re not going to do things this way just because it’s the way we’ve done it,’” Berns said. Who wants to bet me that he was a huge proponent of same-sex marriage laws? > [@](#): > > “We bought 70,000 acres of land in the county. What did they think we were going to do?” he said. I’m not sure that “try and secede in order to form their own fascist local government” should have ever been on any American’s mind. > [@](#): > > “For us to be able to take risks and be limber, nimble and figure things out like you do when you’re designing new products, that’s not how government works. So why not let us just create a government that lets us do those things?” Berns said. These fuckers just never stop chafing, do they? FFS, the playing field in America is already highly tilted in favor or corporate people over actual people AND in favor of the wealthy over everyone else. But that’s never enough, is it? Fuck this secessionist jerk and fuck his stupid, stupid idea. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/2 "2021-02-13T18:36:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > These fuckers just never stop chafing, do they? FFS, the playing field in America is already highly tilted in favor or corporate people over actual people AND in favor of the wealthy over everyone else. But that’s never enough, is it? Fuck this secessionist jerk and fuck his stupid, stupid idea. A million bingos. It should be the thesis statement regarding policy going forward. My bet is that it won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/3 "2021-02-13T20:32:09Z")
From the story: > Commissioner Lance Gilman, who owns the Mustang Ranch brothel and bought most of the county’s land to turn it into an industrial park decades ago, has supported luring technology companies to the area and growing its population. But Gilman, who worked in marketing for Blockchains LLC from 2018 to 2019, said there are many unknowns about ceding control to a new jurisdiction that falls within county borders. > > ”(The bill) wants the host county to let it form, become successful, not pay them very much money, and eventually let them take over the whole county and all the operations, if it becomes successful,” Gilman said. “If it doesn’t become successful, who becomes responsible for all the stuff that was built in the meantime?” So even a pimp who once worked for the company seeking to assume governmental powers has some (small) misgivings. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they got what they’re asking for, or at least a significant part of it. Right now the Nevada state government is dominated by Democrats, but it’s not like the Democratic Party has a strong record of cracking down on business these days, or for the last few decades. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/4 "2021-02-13T20:39:09Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > the playing field in America is already highly tilted in favor or corporate people over actual people Sorry to be the one to break the news; the US has been ruled by large corporations for years. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/5 "2021-02-13T21:37:25Z")
Anywhere that county level government has any significance is already thoroughly corrupt. I can’t see how this would be any worse. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/6 "2021-02-13T21:42:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Anywhere that county level government has any significance is already thoroughly corrupt. I can’t see how this would be any worse What happens almost every time someone says “I don’t see how it can get any worse”? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/7 "2021-02-13T21:54:55Z")
Since everything always gets worse all the time it doesn’t matter whether you say it or it not. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/8 "2021-02-13T21:56:41Z")
From a sheerly intellectual/scientific standpoint, I’d be curious to see what befell such a settlement. Sure, there would be exploitation and all sorts of injustices, but still interesting. However, from a business standpoint, it would confer an unfair advantage on such a corporation if they were allowed to do business with people outside their New Independent Country, since they wouldn’t have to pay federal taxes the way other corporations have to. So I would only let them do this if they are forced to be entirely internal - can’t do business with outsiders, must be entirely self-sustaining. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/9 "2021-02-13T21:58:24Z")
you know the longer we live the more we get closer to the Shadowrun system where most corporations are “mega corps” and are their own states (remember company towns? imagine corporate states)separate from local governments to the point that in one book there’s a city worker strike and in an interview one person says "im a corporate citizen so city state and what passes for federal government decisions in no way affects me " Although there is an Un type of thing for corporate disputes called “the council” that’s made up of all the CEO’s of said corporations … give it about another 50 years or so and well get there ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/10 "2021-02-13T22:07:00Z")
I’ll tell you one thing: That land is good for about one thing. Off-roading. Two if you like doin’ it outdoors. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Anywhere that county level government has any significance is already thoroughly corrupt. I see you’ve been to Storey County! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/11 "2021-02-13T23:03:08Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > you know the longer we live the more we get closer to the Shadowrun system where most corporations are “mega corps” and are their own states (remember company towns? I was thinking the same thing. Shadowrun or Blade Runner. Sorry but I can’t bring myself to call anyone “Chummer”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/12 "2021-02-13T23:12:32Z")
If large corporations had any form of control over governments we could end up with dystopian outcomes like this: [Rich countries block India, South Africa’s bid to ban COVID vaccine patents](https://www.dw.com/en/rich-countries-block-india-south-africas-bid-to-ban-covid-vaccine-patents/a-56460175) > The two developing countries say the IP waiver will allow drugmakers in poor countries to start production of effective vaccines sooner. > … > > The proposal was vehemently opposed by wealthy nations like the US and Britain as well as the European Union, who said that a ban would stifle innovation at pharmaceutical companies by robbing them of the incentive to make huge investments in research and development. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/13 "2021-02-13T23:19:23Z")
lol yeah the slang was terrible … remember hooplicker ? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/14 "2021-02-13T23:39:04Z")
Yeah, I like Shadowrun enough but the slang was painful. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/15 "2021-02-14T01:53:41Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > Sorry to be the one to break the news; the US has been ruled by large corporations for years. When [Detroit started being largely policed by private security forces](https://youtu.be/4pt6hnabnkU) I realized we are actually living in a Verhoeven film. Your future belongs to Omni Consumer Products and the Zik Zak Corporation. Drink your Brawndo; it has electrolytes! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/16 "2021-02-14T02:50:37Z")
Sixteen Candles has been running in my head since hearing about this. “I sold my soul to the company store.” That said, it did just occur to me that this is effectively how Disney World is governed… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/17 "2021-02-14T03:00:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Sixteen Candles has been running in my head since hearing about this. “I sold my soul to the company store.” - Tons. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/18 "2021-02-14T08:07:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That said, it did just occur to me that this is effectively how Disney World is governed… This was Walt Disney’s vision for EPCOT Center ( EPCOT = “Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow”) – A totally company planned and controlled community where the workers would live the corporate life 24/7, on duty and “off duty”. > **[EPCOT (concept)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept))** > > The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, shortened to EPCOT or E.P.C.O.T., is an unfinished concept for a planned community, intended to sit on a swath of undeveloped land near Orlando, Florida, that was created by Walt Disney in collaboration with the designers at Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1960s. Based on ideas stemming from modernism and futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town. On Follo... > [@Wikipedia page on EPCOT concept](#): > > The **Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow** , or **EPCOT,** was an unfinished concept for a [planned community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_community) in [Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida) developed by [Walt Disney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney) and designed by [WED Enterprises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Imagineering) in the 1960s. Its purpose was to be a “real city that would ‘never cease to be a living blueprint of the future’”,[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)#cite_note-1) designed to draw upon the latest technology and innovation from American industry. The community was intended to be a major component of Disney’s “[Florida Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World)”, a massive property of undeveloped land located near [Orlando, Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando,_Florida) during the 1960s.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)#cite_note-2) > > The EPCOT concept was planned to be a [utopian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia) [autocratic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocracy) [company town](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_town) completely controlled by Walt Disney himself[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)#cite_note-3) and featuring commercial, residential, industrial and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)#cite_note-4) Based on ideas stemming from [modernism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism) and [futurism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism_(art)), it was consciously designed to solve the [infrastructure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure) issues created by [urban sprawl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl) that had become widely apparent in the [urbanized areas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area) of the [United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) in the 1960s. > > The original concept of EPCOT was abandoned by [Walt Disney Productions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company) after Walt Disney’s death in 1966, citing the impracticality of maintaining and governing an operating city. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/19 "2021-02-14T08:11:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > Sixteen Candles has been running in my head since hearing about this. “I sold my soul to the company store.” - > > Tons. “I owe my soul…” not “I sold my soul…” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851/20 "2021-02-14T10:23:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I like Shadowrun enough but the slang was painful. Chip truth, suit. Stay wiz. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-giving-corporations-governance-powers-is-not-a-good-idea/932851.md?page=2)