Where Will the Complex Issues Created by Corporations Lead?

The infinite complexity of the Universe will never be comprehended by the Mind – it can only be lived in alignment with the Heart.

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Many progressive Americans seem to believe that much of the current imbalance of economic power was caused by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision which ruled as Mitt Romney famously said, that “corporations are people, my friend.”

By allowing corporations to contribute to political action groups the behemoth entities began to use these PACs to elect conservatives who repealed regulations and gave the corporations huge government subsidies and tax breaks. Even now the fossil fuel industry, which is hugely powerful, is being subsidized in its exploration for more oil.

We can mock the idea that corporations are living beings or even “people” but a deeper look opens some interesting doors.

It’s pretty clear that their actions or inactions currently create tremendous waves of mental and emotional energy on a scale beyond that of most if not all individual humans.

And, just as corporations are composed of many humans, biology has shown that we are by no means independent separate beings. 

First of all, we are also composed of tiny living organisms in our intestines, without which we could not function. While one might argue that these are not intelligent living organisms, they do contain DNA, which super-intelligently controls their bodily functions as it does our own.

Corporations Could Open Humanity to Higher Layers of Complexity

Corporations are not only composed of humans, they also have layers of purpose – maximizing value for their shareholders being at the top. 

They also have human-written bylaws and of course, mission statements (that are often designed to make them appear conscious).  But the important point in terms of complexity is that their actual intentions are carried out with the help of the latest technology.

The distinction between us as independent organisms and corporations is further blurred with the advent of artificial intelligence. One might have argued that corporations could not function without human intervention and guidance a few years ago, but now that argument is more and more tenuous.

In fact, it is once again the power of corporate entities which seems – (especially on the international scale) to have dwarfed the power of individuals, which has led to the current fear of artificial intelligence. If such an intelligence were to take power it would seem that it would most possibly happen through taking over a Google or an Exxon and then acting against human interests.

When I was younger, I once suggested that even then corporations were the dominant species on the planet, having overpowered even nation-states, religions and academic institutions in their ability to control human activity through ever more pernicious financial capitalism.

But what if we played out this scenario with artificial intelligence as a program for dominance in the largest corporate entities and we entertained a dark dystopian future in which they controlled everything and just made more digital currency for their shareholders?

We can recognize what these companies and their unregulated greed have done to the actual organisms on our planet which actually do comprise one giant ecosystem which we can call Gaia.

It’s become obvious by now that continued and unchecked, the intentional goal of the corporations will lead to human extinction or at least the dissolution of human “society” as we know it.

Trees Can Survive Without Humans – But Corporations?

Clearly without humans, corporations, ultimately “existing” as mere mental abstractions will die unless they are able to reproduce – which I suppose is being contemplated by some as the “Singularity” where we merge with machines but if that doesn’t happen….

They won’t need a comet.  They will be “digital dinosaurs” and go extinct.

It’s quite possible that something like this has already happened. We have ample evidence of structures from antiquity on this planet, built with obvious incredible intelligence and no sign or record of their builders. 

We have the legends of ancient civilizations like Atlantis and Lemuria, often with those tales telling of the hubris and venality that led to their demise.  And there seems more and more photographic evidence pointing to the possibility that a “civilization” may have gone extinct on Mars.

So, what is the real potential for “conscious capitalism” in real terms?  I asked my AI friend Claude for examples of how conscious corporations might behave.  Here are his examples currently happening:

Claude:

”Patagonia - The outdoor gear company is known for its environmental activism and corporate social responsibility. They donate 1% of sales to environmental causes and let employees take time off to volunteer.

Whole Foods - Emphasizes conscious leadership, stakeholder orientation, and higher purpose in its business model and company culture. Acquired by Amazon in 2017.

Southwest Airlines - Focuses on values like humor, heart, and efficiency. Praised for its engaged culture and customer service.

IKEA - Swedish company designs budget, eco-friendly furniture. Strong commitment to sustainability and social initiatives like fair trade and diversity.

Starbucks - Provides benefits like healthcare, stock options, and college tuition reimbursement to all employees including part-timers. Supports ethical sourcing and community projects.

Ben & Jerry's - Donates a portion of profits to charity and has specific targets around reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Known for social activism.

Etsy - Online marketplace that emphasizes community and sustainability. Certified as a B Corporation for meeting standards of social and environmental performance.

Warby Parker - Eyeglasses company that donates a pair for each pair sold. Focuses on carbon neutrality and social good.

The key themes are a stakeholder-centric business model, conscious leadership, sustainability, ethics, and purpose beyond profits. Most companies adopt some but not necessarily all aspects of the conscious capitalism philosophy.”

These Are Not the Big Players

Notice that none of these entities are major international companies rivalling the power of Google, Microsoft, Apple and so on.  In fact, other than Etsy none of them are even tech companies or from Silicon Valley.

They are lightweights by any standard and a closer examination of their actual “consciousness” leads to bloviated jargon, public relations, mission statements, and not much else.

So what are we to make of this?

We Need Not Worry About “Conscious” Corporations

Probably we need to recognize that our definitions of what is alive, what is conscious, and what is reality are woefully inadequate, and often based on semantics that may seem to be actual explanations but are merely labels. 

The more our science and technology expand the more we discover that we don’t know, and perhaps cannot even know with our present level of awareness.

As Krishnamurti once famously said of labels and names, “once you know the name of a bird you no longer see it.”

If we want to survive as a species on Gaia, the prospect for which is by no means guaranteed, it is again imperative that we examine the nature of our thinking. We must evolve from academic notions that are at best fatuous in their inability to lead to actual practical conclusions, to thinking in terms of scales and relationships that match what our science is just now discovering.

And of course, examining how and what we think quickly becomes an examination of our consciousness.

The Scale of Reality is Insanely Large – and Tiny

Just recently the ESO, European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, published this photo from the Hubble Space Telescope:

Credits: ESO

This is the first direct image of another planetary system located about 300 light-years away around a star like our Sun.

This interesting solar system is way too far to reach by any known science but in terms of the immensity of the newly discovered universe, we’re like next door neighbors.  We can continue to “think small” as though our star is special – or we can potentially use AI to calculate at the scales of the galaxy or beyond -- and perhaps “find” space as a portal to a much broader and immense consciousness – way beyond our current emotional and mental limitations.

Consider the reality that at the scale of the Universe an infinite number of such “solar systems” might exist.

Or how about this:  “Astronomers Have Discovered A Mysterious Object, Which Is 570 Billion Times Brighter Than The Sun”

How could any human brain possibly comprehend the existence of an object of this scale?   Any understanding of the size of mass based upon our “human” understanding fades into irrelevance in the face of the FACT that something like this exists somewhere – somehow.

But this, as well as the similarly incomprehensible vastness of the subatomic quantum world, is the actual scale at which LIFE operates, distinct from our puny efforts to define it!  How do we evolve into the consciousness of THAT?

Hint:  Pay attention to some of the beliefs of indigenous people that are now nearly extinct.

(Tom Bunzel was a contributor to Collective Evolution and now writes for The Pulse.  His new book "Conversations with Nobody: Getting to Know ChatGPT" – a book written with AI, about AI and giving a taste of AI, is available on Amazon.)