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Question

Is corporate social responsibility possible? Adam Furnarie


Answer

Anthony Arnove: This is actually a great question because there is - I think a lot of people are right now talking about corporate responsibility, talking about socially conscious corporations. And really, I think that this is a very problematic notion because corporations exist for a reason under capitalism, which is to make profit. And at the end of the day, that is what corporations will do. And that goal, that imperative of making profit is completely at odds with social responsibility, it’s completely at odds with questions of concern having to do with the environment, treatment of workers, social concerns that are raised by those who talk about corporate responsibility, social responsibility of corporations. Ultimately, corporations, if they believe that they might be socially responsible, will find themselves at an economic disadvantage from corporations that are operating without any such concerns. And in that kind of condition of competition that exists under capitalism, those corporations will be able to drive out a competition, which has concerns that will raise the cost of production, that will raise the cost of doing business for those corporations. So, whatever the intentions of individuals in those corporations, the Directors, the CEOs, or so on, they will find that their investors, their Board Advisors or their competition will pressure them economically, and thus equilibrium on the system will then return to an equilibrium, which is based on exploitation or based on denial of any social concerns.