The Corporation

I stopped off at the Curzon on the way home the other evening, to watch The Coporation, a documentary film based on a book by the same name, written by Joel Bakan. The running is split into a number of chapters each considering a different aspect of the corporation, with topics including environment impact, fraud, politic influence, worker exploitation, distortion of news, brainwashing through marketing / branding, and many more. While most people will already have a general awareness of most of issue covered, what was enlightening (and somewhat depressing) to me were some of the real world examples.

One such example was the case of two reporters for Fox News in Florida whose documentary on synthetic growth hormone marketed to boost milk production was buried by corporation executives in fear of antagonizing Monsanto & their lawyers. Never mind the fact that there is gross overproduction of milk, to the extent that many countries (in Europe in particular) pay farmers to not produce milk. The growth hormone resulted in udder infections, in turn requiring antibiotics, which subsequently make their way into the milk and ultimately the people drinking it. But lets not worry about that either, since, to quote the Fox executive, “We Paid $3 Billion For These Stations. We’ll Decide What the News Is.”.

Another even more depressing example, was how the World Bank provided loans to Bolivia on the condition that it privitise the water supply to Chochabamba. In one of the poorest countries of the world, this resulted in an increase in price for water, the most fundamental substance required for life & existance, of as much as 40%, while at the same time laws forbid people from setting up systems to collect rainwater. Eventually the town revolted and in the ensuing riots 6 people died, while government troops and riot police defended the premises of Bechtel. After eventually having their contract terminated, Bechtel is now sueing the Bolivian governement for 25 millions USD. To quote:

The case is being heard by a secret trade court operated by the World Bank….

The process is so secret that members of the public and the media are neither permitted to attend, nor even to know when meetings are held, where, who testifies and what they say. If the Bank’s panel grants Bechtel’s demand, those costs will fall directly on Cochabamba water users and will force a dramatic increase in water prices once again.

While it can be said the film is preaching to the already converted, it comes across as much more balanced than other documentary films in a similar genre, such as Michael Moore’s Fahrenhite 9/11. The narrow focus no doubt helps, allowing the film makers to consider all angles of the subject, and take views from both sides. There’s also refreshingly serious commentry from Michael Moore himself, and other notable figures such as Noam Chomsky. In short, it is your duty to go see this film. You will not be disappointed.