Multinational Monitor |
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JAN/FEB 2005 FEATURES: Don't Mourn, Organize: Big Business Follows Joe Hill's Entreaty to U.S. Political Dominance Wall Street Ascendant Slow Motion Coup d'Etat: Global Trade Agreements and the Displacement of Democracy Every Nook and Cranny: The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture Profits of War: The Fruits of the Permanent Military-Industrial Complex Wal-Mart: Rise of the Goliath Monster Banks: The Political and Economic Costs of Banking and Financial Consolidation Grand Theft: The Conglomeratization of the Media and the Degradation of Culture INTERVIEW: Do We Not Bleed? Flower Workers and the Struggle for Justice DEPARTMENTS: Editorial The Front |
Letters to the EditorTo the editor: Regarding “The 10 Worst Corporations of 2004:” What about Microsoft? What about Sony and Walt Disney? Does it matter that they have engaged in predatory practices, but continue to use their monopoly to push so called “digital rights management” down people’s throats? The intended result, once adopted, is to completely stifle all political dissent on the net. I never heard of McWane, Merck, Riggs. And Hardee’s is not the international success that McDonald’s or Wal-Mart is. What scares me most about Wal-Mart isn’t that they have abysmal labor practices. That’s just icing on the cake. What scares me is the extent that they represent off-shoring to China. Michael Richardson Okay — “The 10 Worst Corporations of 2004” is a great piece, but you’re losing credibility attacking a food chain about selling a monster-burger (which appear to make no apologies or excuses about it) that is, by all accounts, decadent and full of calories. I’m assuming this part of the list was not tongue-in-cheek. I would have a problem with it if they tried pawning it off as some “health-burger” or an alternative to a healthy meal. Doesn’t sound like they’re doing that. Maybe you should go after the dairy industry. ... Certainly I get terrible gas from drinking milk. (Oh wait — I don’t do that anymore.) Unless Hardee’s is involved with nefarious acts along the lines of Halliburton, Enron or, say, Home Depot, I think it weakens the whole of your article. Michael Wold I always find your Top 10 List most informative. But you left off what I consider the Poster Child of bad corporate behavior — a company that should remain on the list year after year — United Fruit Company a/k/a Chiquita Banana. From the company’s complicity with the CIA in overthrowing the Arbenz government in Guatemala in the 1950s to today’s alleged poisoning of Central American banana workers, this company is one of the worst.
Bruce Edwards |
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