Synopses & Reviews
From its roots in 17th-century Britain to its modern incarnation in Enron and WorldCom, the modern corporation -- restless, autonomous, and self-perpetuating -- has gained potency. Designed to seek profit and power, the corporation has pursued both objectives with endless tenacity, steadily bending the framework of the law and incurring destruction in its path. Where did the corporation come from? How did it get so much power? What is its ultimate trajectory? Considering the importance of such questions, it is surprisingly difficult to find answers.
Using cutting-edge research from academic historians, sociologists, political scientists, and legal scholars, ""Gangs of America attempts to answer these questions in a unique, riveting narrative. The book recounts the settlement of America by corporations, details the surprising impetus for the Revolutionary War, then traces the expansion of corporate rights onto the global stage -- culminating in an assessment of current struggles over such issues as media control and campaign finance reform. Part of the ""BK Currents series, the book promotes positive social change.
Synopsis
The corporation has become the core institution of the modern world. Designed to seek profit and power, it has pursued both with endless tenacity, steadily bending the framework of law and even challenging the sovereign status of the state.
After selling his successful computer book publishing business to a large corporation, Ted Nace felt increasingly driven to find answers to questions about where the corporation came from, how it got so much power, and where it is going. In Gangs of America he details the rise of corporate power in America through a series of fascinating stories, each organized around a different facet of the central question: "How did corporations get more rights than people?" Nace traces the events and people that have shaped the modern corporation to give us a fascinating look into the rise of corporate power.
Synopsis
Surpassing even the state and the church, the corporation has become the core institution of the modern world, exercising might and muscle without regard to the often destructive effects on individuals, the environment, society, and the world. How did this happen? In this compelling expose, noted entrepreneur and activist Ted Nace scrutinizes the legal framework of the corporation and untangles questions about how and why the corporation evolved as it did. Nace traces the evolution of this institution through the behind-the-scenes figures who shaped it, including Thomas Scott, an obscure genius who invented the holding company; Stephen Field, the Supreme Court judge who developed corporate personhood rights; and many others. Including the latest research by historians, sociologists, political scientists, and legal scholars, this book is a dramatic narrative, an invaluable reference, and a blueprint for regaining control before it's too late.