Corporate personhood was enshrined into law by the US Supreme Court decision which essentially says that corporations have the same rights as naturally occuring human beings. The difference is that all human beings eventually get old and eventually die. Corporations have the potential to last forever; although it must be noted that many do eventually die or are swallowed up by still bigger corporations. There are some corporations, however, such as the American Red Cross that live on for over 100 years and still exist today.

Here is a list of problems that I think need to be looked at as an integrated whole. That's why I've put this as a Forum topic. I've also put each of these in Activist Solutions as a separate problem.

1. Stress – Generally
2. Boredom – Particularly among youth
3. Poverty
4. Energy Consumption and Destruction of Farmland through Development
5. Workforce Dissatisfaction, Overwork and Stress in the Workplace
6. Workplace and Corporate Culture
7. Anger In the Workplace – Both Overt and Covert

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Intentional communities have a significant advantage over more traditional enterprises in that the entire project is a social experiment which encourages “out of the box“ thinking. Community businesses face the same real-world pressures of economics and culture faced by all businesses and must make compromises and adjustments.

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Many consulting firms offer anger management and employee assistance programs including psychological counseling, books, CD’s, and workshops. These programs, while possibly effective, are not nearly widespread enough to prevent problems from occurring and are most often employed reactively to respond to an incident that has already occurred instead of proactively to prevent problems from arising. Individual reluctance to step forward and admit a problem along with bureaucracy and red tape can also greatly hinder these programs’ effectiveness.

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Many companies attempt “best practices” and “employee empowerment” programs. Implementing these programs often takes years, especially if the organization has a bureaucratic culture. These efforts also tend to be haphazard, meaning that few organizations effectively implement their ideas. This worsens employee frustration and dissatisfaction.

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Public/private programs such as conservation easements, purchase of development rights, and transferable development rights are severely limited by “private property rights.” Government agencies such as the EPA and educational efforts of such groups as the Sierra Club are equally powerless to stop the continual paving of farmland.

82% of employees consider overtly responding in kind to angry co-workers. 9% of these employees actually do so. Covert forms of aggression include failing to transmit needed information, coming late to meetings, wasting resources, or delaying responses to phone calls or memos- all at enormous cost to employers and the economy.

90% of companies recognize the need to adapt their cultures to fit changing markets. Despite this, 50% of these companies rate their efforts as fair or poor because they fail to produce the desired results while accidentally causing harm such as hostility, broken relationships, burnout, and failure to adapt to evolving market needs.

At some point the business sector realized the best way to take advantage of consumers was to use default options that make them spend money. A default option works because it creates an automatic decision by the consumer doing nothing. And doing nothing is the path of least resistance for time-poor consumers struggling to balance the many difficult responsibilities associated with work, family, maintaining financial security, and coping with stresses on their health.

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Higher education has morphed into another corporate entity, driven by demands for larger market share and niche education. We seem to have lost our way from the original notion of the purpose of higher education, and have become an arm of a capitalist machine designed to produce "workers." In the meantime, much of the "work" is being exported to other countries. Let's discuss the bigger question -- what is and what should be the purpose of higher education in this country today? We have a country on a treadmill of achievement to what end?