When I heard Steve Kagen's commentary on the heartlessness of giant corporations, it struck me that I had heard the argument before, but I couldn't remember when. That in itself told me that I must have heard it back in the '60s. Then I recalled that the discussion had been with my college roommate and the evil entity had been the "military industrial complex" instead of the giant corporations. Back in those golden, idealistic days we knew that the future would be a better place because we would treat each other fairly. We would do this because of the goodness, love, and brotherhood in our hearts. Between then and now, most of us grew up.

Having survived the intervening decades, divorce, parenthood, and downsizing, I have come to a different perspective. When the ideals of sharing, brotherhood, and unselfishness are implemented as government policy, it has inevitably led to economic disaster. Do you remember "From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs"? It didn't work out too well for the former Soviet Union and in its lesser, Socialist, forms it has led to massive unemployment and low productivity throughout much of Europe. I have come to trust much more the traditional American value of enlightened self-interest.

Corporations are the creations of groups of people for the purpose of providing goods and services that are in demand and in return to make a profit on the money they have invested to create a business. Corporations have a charter: to obey the law, to preserve their existence, and to make profits for their stockholders. As far as I know, there are no laws requiring businesses to continue to do business in one place or in one way when they can produce higher levels of profits for their stockholders by moving elsewhere or merging with other businesses to minimize overhead costs.

The agreement between a business and its employees is for the business to compensate the employees with wages and benefits in return for the employeesí labor. If the XYZ corporation in Seattle were to offer me 50% more than my current salary to move to Seattle and work for them, I donít think that anyone would find fault with my taking them up on their offer. But when BP America decides that it can make a higher "salary" for its stockholders by merging with Amoco and moving its headquarters, Mr. Kagen thinks that it's a crime! I don't see any difference.

In an earlier era, you could expect to go to work for a company, stay there for your working life, and retire on a company pension. That world hasn't existed for twenty years. A worker is no longer in the position of a dependent child who must depend on an employer for his livelihood. Workers are people with skill sets that they can sell to the highest bidder. The ability to adapt and change to fit the shifting situation is the essence of human intelligence. Being challenged makes you uncomfortable, but it also gives you the opportunity to grow.

The era in which employees gave their loyalty one company and companies promised lifetime employment to their workers is long gone. I, for one, am not sad to see it go, because it was the last bastion of feudalism. Workers were serfs and management were lords and everyone knew their place. We have finally come around to the dream of American free enterprise! Instead of hoping to live off a company pension and Social Security when they retire, everyday citizens are investing in businesses and planning to live off the proceeds of their investments. Through hard work, budgeting, planning, mutual funds, stocks, and 401(k) plans, everybody gets to be a capitalist! This is why the American economy is humming along like a well-oiled machine while much of the rest of the world is trying to figure out what went wrong.

This is not to say that corporations have no responsibility to society. In the information age, it's easy to find out whatís going on with companies and to take collective action when you think that a company is behaving irresponsibly.

I have sympathy for people who have to look for a new job because their old jobs have moved elsewhere. I have been in that position myself and I know how painful it can be. Change is painful. But people making business and personal decisions on the basis of their own perceived self-interest has given us a standard of living that our grandparents could only dream of. I think that this approach will remain the best one into the foreseeable future.

With a commentary for WCPN, this is Marc Myers.

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