Imagine a world where Corporations could ignore the Government and do business as they pleased!
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I know that a lot of people, myself included, praised Qwest Communications for not complying with the Bush Administration’s wiretap request. But then, I thought about it a little more.
How would we feel if DuPont Chemical ignored an order from the EPA to stop dumping chemicals in a river? Can’t you just imagine the DuPont spokesman saying:
"We have done our legal analysis and we feel that the EPA is infringing on the Rights and Liberty of our customers. We will continue to dump chemicals in the river, to protect our customer's Rights."
When a Corporation gets an order from the Government, I want them to Shut Up and Comply. I don’t want Qwest second-guessing the NSA. I don’t want Wal-Mart second-guessing the Department of Labor. I don’t want McDonald’s to pick-and-choose which Food Safety regulations to follow.
We should not expect profit-driven Corporations to defend our rights. We cannot depend on them. They don’t care about us, only Profit. Many are controlled by non-Americans anyway. And we must not get them into the dangerous habit of thinking that they can defy the Government whenever they see fit.
If there are illegalities, we will sort them out later, in court, by punishing the Government official who made the illegal request. That is where the buck must stop, anyway.
Civil Disobedience is a right and obligation reserved for Humans. Corporations are artificial constructs, and as such, must do as we say...or else we will really be in trouble.