Capitalism as a Cornerstone of Anarchy by Andrew Edwards

Corporations seem to be a sore point for a lot of Anarchists, and for good reason. A corporation is an entity that is recognized by a government as an individual. They exist for the sole purpose of creating a situation of limited liability for the people who control the business. In other words, a corporation is a business without conscious.

You will find that a lot of Anarchists will use Corporatism and Capitalism interchangeably. This is not necessarily wrong, especially considering language is a constantly changing thing i.e. American Corporatism has come to mean American Capitalism. It was not the original intent of capitalism though and, in the same spirit as separating 'anarchy' from 'chaos,' maybe it is time to take this word back also.

“Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state,” this according to Google. So, if a corporation is, for all intents and purposes, a extension of the state then it would be tough to argue that it fit into this definition of Capitalism.

For an Anarchist this is an important issue because corporations are responsible for a great deal of the problems in the world. The vast majority of ecological disasters have been a direct result of a combination of publicly owned property and the businesses not required to take full responsibility for their actions.

Imagine a world where the oceans were privately owned and CEOs where held completely responsible for the actions of their organizations. Bob Dudley, CEO of British Petroleum, would never have allowed so many safety over sights to get by him. If he did he would have risked prison, not just having his job threatened and fines.

If this still happened there would be someone with personal incentive to get the area cleaned up, not the half-heartedly by government agencies more concerned with politics than ecological sustainability. For the more financial minded among you, lack of government means much less expense in doing a better job in any enterprise.  For proof of this look up the Wollman Skating Rink in NYC. Love'em or hate'em Trump proved private enterprise can move mountains where government trips on pebbles.

It is time to take the word back. It is more than just the word though, we need a separation of government and economy.