As a writer, I have (on occasion) toyed with the idea of what it would be like to be a serial killer. The idea of someone who kills, has blood on her hands, legs, face, who for whatever reason, in joy, horror or desperation, thrives on the taking of life. Frankly, I just don't relate. Sure, there were times when I was quiting smoking that I did relish the thought of separating one or twenty assholes from their mortal coils, but who hasn't? In any event, we just don't do it. Now, I have discovered, that one might maybe can . . . .
"Corporations are people, my friend" is a quote from Mittens Romney that keeps being blasted ad nauseum on our airwaves. "Hmmm," my sick, twisted inner voice says. "Wonder how you kill a corporation. Will it bleed?" My sane, rational self has joined in at this point: "BP bleeds. It bled all over the Gulf of Mexico," my rational self opines. "NO!" my sicko self says. "That was Mother Earth bleeding, and BP caused it. BP should die." Good point. "No, when corporations bleed, they bleed money - that's how you know they hurt." My sicko self has a definite intellectual edge over my rational, compassionate self. But, then, it has a legal education, so that only stands to reason.
"How do you make a corporation bleed?" I asked my twisted self. We collaborated at this point. You can revoke its charter. It's not done very often. There's a pretty good article (the best I could find) that dates back to 2001, in IREASON (Killing Corporations by Jesse Walker http://reason.com/archives/2001/07/01/killing-corporations). In truth, killing corporations involves litigation, which involves lawyers and which does not involve corporations bleeding money fast enough and long enough for my taste. I will say this in favor of the death by litigation tactic - it rarely results in death, but it usually results in wishing for death as a something preferable to litigation. An advocate for children once said "From the perspective of my inner child, I would rather be raped than go to court - it doesn't hurt as much and and it doesn't last nearly as long." So, for the sole purpose of causing pain, litigation might be your choice.
But for me, I want blood. And litigation for corporations doesn't get that for me. Not even close. After spending my life working for the man, working for myself, working, and spending more than I made for decades, life presented me with what I saw as no other choice but to just drop out, walk away, do something else. It's what I always really wanted to do anyway, and frankly, I'm better at being a slacker than I ever was at working for a living. Somehow (meaning I have really awesome friends who help me figure out ways to help them in return for things like cash and other stuff that improve my physical circumstances) I have a roof over my head, indoor plumbing, a beautiful lake outside my window, love, food, a dog, a car, my rent and utilities paid with a little cash left over at the end of the month. Never in all my working life did I do this well.
What I don't do is spend all of my money supporting large corporations. Ah, the other way to hurt corporations. They don't generate their own blood (money). We give money to them. If we stop giving money to them, it's almost like bleeding. If the influx of blood (money) stops, they die. If you want to kill a corporation, cut off its blood (money) supply. Do it. Today. Every way you can. Pass it on.
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