Mahatma Microsoft

I'm watching "Gandhi".

I've always had a fascination, and a weak spot for Gandhi. He epitomized a level of wisdom I could never hope to approach.

Here, now, with a glass of whiskey in my hand and a pack of cigarettes by my chair, I wonder how we could apply his lessons to today's inequities.

Today, society's inequites are more systemic, more due to how much of influence our corporate structure has, and how little the mass of humanity has. There is not the central power structure that there was in Gandhi's day.

But, the inequities do exist, and they exist in at an ever increasing level.

I'm pondering. I'm pondering how we could apply Gandhi's lessons to today's inequities. I'm pondering what the moral justification of resistance would be.

This is a work in progress of course, but there is one idea that occurs to me.

Today's corporations employ entire buildings full of people to influence our politics, warp our policy to fit their purpose. They do this without paying the price of the results.

Increasingly, I believe that we should limit the rights to free speach to those that have the right to vote. Corporations have no right to vote, so corporations have no right to free speach.

If a company wants to participate in political activities, they they must bear the responsibilities that come with citizenship. We are all responsible for each other at some level. Companies apply the cold equation of profit exclusively to their actions, yet claim the rights of a citizen that lives, works, and sleeps with fellow citizens.

I think the rights of citizens should not be extended to corporations. If a corporation wishes to lobby the government, display political advertisements, influence public policy, then they must meet a minimal standard for social responsibility.

This concept is just the beginning of what should be set of broad changes. Companies need to be responsible at some level for their workers. They need to offer them training instead of demanding more and more educated workers without contributing enough to education in America.

If they wish to not be responsible for the health of their workers, then they need to abide for certain standards to allow their workers to be responsible for their own health.

The list is endless, we are allowing our corporations to rule our society.

There must be a way of combining the lessons of Gandhi to our current social problems.

I'm going to ponder this.