Corporate Chess

I have had many conversations regarding the role of Corporations in the decline of the prosperity of America. I have had some who are so dead-set on preserving the Corporate Ideology, that it sometimes seems they would die for their beliefs. I can only hope that what I say will at least open their eyes to the growing American problem that is Capitalism (unchecked). I believe that Capitalism is a great idea in America, as long as there is morality to the program. It is when morals leave the arena that people begin to get hurt. I believe that, as in chess, the entry level employees, and lower to middle management, are the pawns. Cheap, plentiful, and extremely expendable; very limited in ability and freedom. Upper management, such as district and regional managers, are the rooks, knights and bishops. They have much more room to move, have greater abilities and freedoms. They are usually the soldiers used to eliminate the pawns. Then, there are the CEO’s, the Board, and Corporate Executives; these are the queens of the game. They have the ability to move around and do almost anything they want. And of course the King represents the corporation itself. All of the players, running about trying to save the corporations, while the pawns are on the front lines, getting slaughtered.

Only when the business of Capitalism is not played as a game of chess, by corporations, will businesses really be in their full potential. I can remember when the motto for most of the companies I worked for was “hire and retain top talent”. Nowadays, it’s “the cheaper they work, the bigger the bottom line….for the top”. I can’t remember the last time, in the past ten years (with the exception of my current employer), that management actually asked the opinion of those on the front line; on how to make the job safer for the employees, or how to make a better work environment that created satisfied employees, or what the needs of the employees were, or what they saw that could improve business. I can’t remember the last time, anyone, other than management received bonuses because the company was doing exceptionally well. I can’t remember the last time that the employees were treated to a company picnic, or party, or even given a card on their birthdays. And yet, the top execs, are still pulling in fat bonuses, paid for with the sweat, tears and blood of the pawns.

I think that when corporations return to their senses, and find out from the people who make things work, what really does work, instead of making decisions from their secure offices and making others suffer the consequences of their decisions; when the corporations return to their senses and realize that the people who are here spending their hard earned money, are the same people who they are putting out of work, and basically taking the money from their customers; when the corporations return to their senses and realize that creating an out of work, desperate, criminally bound society is actually going to hurt their bottom line; that this country will begin to return to the stable, ideal place for all Americans, and will return to being the envy of other countries. As long as we continue to put the American customer out of work, by shipping jobs overseas; as long as we continue to overwork and underpay the very backbone of every corporation; as long as we ignore that being wealthy is good, and being ridiculously wealthy is, well, ridiculous, then we will continue to move on this sideways path, that will eventually be too long to support and will snap. I admit that corporations are not the only problem right now, but in my opinion, they are the biggest.