In a recent New York Review of Books article by Jake Bernstein (Loopholes for Kleptocrats, referencing the books American Kleptocracy: How the US Created the Worlds Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History, by Casey Michel and The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, by Chuck Collins) I ran across one of my red flag phrases, “in perpetuity”:
in (also for, †to) perpetuity: for all time, forever; for an unlimited or indefinitely long period.
OED
When it comes to corporations—no matter how flowery and wonderful their mission statements, values, or principles—it’s crucial to remember they all have an implied bedrock principle: “we claim the right to exist in perpetuity.”
(Compare this to our human, self-evident rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Heck, even we don’t have the arrogance to claim these rights for ourselves after our life ends!)
Anyway, as I have pointed out in my post “”ΨMorality”, And Why Corporations Are Like The Gods,” when we consider the meaning and function of corporate ethics and morality, we must never forget that their foundational principle is non-human.