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Accountability sinks

(aworkinglibrary.com)
493 points l0b0 | 1 comments | 19 Oct 24 23:39 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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larsrc ◴[20 Oct 24 08:33 UTC] No.41893900[source]▶
I've long thought that that is one of the main functions of corporations. There's a reason they're called limited liability. The fact that you can conjure up new companies at a whim makes it easy to shuffle responsibility into an obscure corner.

This is a strong reason that corporations should not be considered people. People are long-lived entities with accountability and you can't just create or destroy them at will.

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1. arp242 ◴[21 Oct 24 02:02 UTC] No.41900100[source]▶
> I've long thought that that is one of the main functions of corporations.

Ambrose Bierce already hit the nail on the head in 1911:

"Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility."

It has long since baffled me this isn't being talked about more – I guess everyone is just so used to it. As far as I'm concerned the entire concept of "fining a company" should be abolished and replaced with the criminal persecution of those who did the illegal thing.