Who holds the power?

I was thinking about societal power, and how companies fit into that power structure... or, at times, dominate it. Why? Because we created in law an entity - the company - which has all the rights of a person, but few of the responsibilities. A business can buy property, take on debt, sign a contract, sell goods, hire people, pay tax, and limit its liability to the extent of the capital in the control of the organisation. While a company doesn't have to make profit, it must legally intend to make a profit: however, it has no legally binding conscience, morals, values or compassion (Achbar & Abbot, 2004).

A company is therefore a profit-making machine (Achbar & Abbot, 2004). While legislation requires it must act lawfully... what if it doesn't? This is where "no soul to be damned, no body to be kicked" (Coffee, 1981, p. 386) comes in: we lack an effective mechanism to punish the wrong-doing of these legal entities.

Further, when companies are taken to court to demand specific performance of them, the wheels of law grind very slowly, and, without that "soul to be damned" (Coffee, 1981, p. 386), attempts to prove senior staff complicity often fail (Ferguson, 2010; Gibney et al., 2005). This can mean that the powerful owners and shareholders of companies may remain largely untouched by catastrophe. Think Union Carbide in India (Wizevich, 2024); think Theranos (Gibney, 2019); think Enron (Gibney, 2005).

In New Zealand, to be in the top half, we have assets totalling just shy of $135k (Edmunds, 2025). That won't get most of us a house. To be in the top 10%, we need assets of a smidge over $1.2m. That will just get us a house, but it won't make us wealthy (Edmunds, 2025). The reason for that asset distribution is that most New Zealanders earn between $50 and $70k per annum (Money Hub, 2025).

To be really wealthy, to be in the top 1% of 20,000 earning "over $300,000" and "750 people earning over $1 million" each year (Money Hub, 2025), our assets will be over $4.7m (Edmunds, 2025). And excuse me for making a leap, but this group is most likely to contain those amongst us who remain untouched when 'big business' (which does, after all, harvest their wealth and power from society, by selling us services, ideas and essentials), treat the 99% with some level of disdain. Their organisations may be bankrupted to avoid the owners paying back the 99% who have made losses. Who appear to prove they have "no soul to be damned" (Coffee, 1981, p. 386).

I get a bit cross.

Sam

References:

Achbar, M. (Director), & Abbott, J. (Director) (2004). The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power [documentary film]. Big Picture Media Corporation.

Coffee, J. C. (1981). "No soul to damn: no body to kick": An unscandalized inquiry into the problem of corporate punishment. Michigan Law Review, 79(3), 386-459. https://doi.org/10.2307/1288201

Edmunds, S. (2025, October 1). What you need to be among New Zealand's richest people. Radio New Zealand. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/574634/what-you-need-to-be-among-new-zealand-s-richest-people

Ferguson, C. (Director, Writer), with Beck, C. (Writer), & Bolt, A. (Writer). (2010). Inside Job [documentary film]. 2929 Entertainment/HDNet Films/Jigsaw Productions.

Gibney, A. (Director, Writer), with Elkind, P. (Writer), & McLean, B. (Writer). (2005). The Smartest Guys in the Room [documentary film]. Sony Pictures Classics.

Gibney, A. (Director & Producer), with Deeter, J., & Edeiken, E. (Producers). (2019). The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley [documentary film]. Jigsaw Productions/HBO Documentary Films.

Money Hub. (2025, June 30). New Zealand Wage and Salary Distributions for Individuals. https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/wage-salary-distributions.html

Wizevich, E. (2024, December 3). The World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster Exposed 500,000 People to Toxic Gas and Claimed Thousands of Lives. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-deadliest-industrial-disaster-exposed-500000-people-to-toxic-gas-and-claimed-thousands-of-lives-180985434/