Tax Avoiding American Corporations Are Sociopaths

Tax Avoidance is the Norm

For the third year in a row Amazon, with a profit of 11 billion dollars, is paying no federal taxes. They are not alone. 18 of the top 258 profitable corporations in the United States paid no federal taxes in 2017. A fifth of the corporations, 48, paid less than 10%! They are all supposed to be paying 35% but their lawyers take advantage of loopholes and special breaks, including keeping their money overseas in foreign bank accounts. Does this seem right to you?

Corporations Don’t Support the Communities They Profit From

Let’s put this in perspective. These American corporations, who have the same legal status as an individual in our country, make most of their money by selling goods to Americans. Their business operations use roads and pipes and electrical wires and all the other necessary infrastructure of a modern society to make, store, and move their goods around. But the most profitable corporations aren’t paying anything to help maintain the infrastructure that they use!

American corporations only care about maximizing their profitability to increase the value of their company. That way their investors can get the maximum dividends on their stock investments.

The Corporate Personality

Legally, a corporation has the same rights as an individual. So, if a corporation is a person, let’s describe their personality.

Corporations are only loyal to their stockholders. They only think about themselves. Someone who only thinks about themselves and only cares about their own value would be considered narcissistic.

How about monopolizing resources to lower costs? Then putting small businesses out of business to increase market-share? Sounds sociopathic to me. These corporations aren’t interested in getting along with other existing businesses. They want to destroy them so they can control the market.

Would You Be Neighbors with Amazon?

Narcissism and sociopathic behavior are written into the corporate code. It is not profitable for a corporation to care about other things, people, or businesses. Do you think someone like this would make a good neighbor? Would you be friends with them? Would they listen to you if you had a problem? Would they help you if you had a problem?

No! These corporation would take whatever they can from you. They only value you if you’re giving them money. If they were your neighbor, they would steal from you, lie to you, and use your stuff and break it and not replace it! And they would sell you out for someone else with more money in a heartbeat.

This is the corporate code of America. This is Amazon, Walmart, GE, and Disney… The question is, why do we continue to do business with them?

The Moral Ramifications of Our Purchases

Making a purchase is much more than just finding the lowest price. Every action we make has consequences. Therefore, there is a moral consideration to what we buy. And what we buy reflects upon us as a person.

When we purchase soap from Amazon, what does that say about ourselves? Are we a good person for buying from an uncaring, unfeeling, destructive sociopath? Does it reflect upon us in a positive way?

No, it doesn’t. And we should be held accountable for that. When you buy from a company this is destructive, that makes you destructive.

One of the benefits of living in a capitalistic society is that we do have choices. We do not have to purchase the cheapest goods. There are small businesses out there that are fighting for survival. Their prices may be higher, but their products are usually better quality. They tend to be locally sourced, which benefits your immediate community more. They tend to use higher-quality ingredients because quality reflects upon them as a business.

More than Just Low Prices

The next time you are shopping, take into account who you’re buying from. Do they pay their taxes? Do they take care of their community? If the store your shopping for was a person, would they be someone you be friends with?

If you can’t respond positively to these questions, then you shouldn’t shop there. It doesn’t matter how low the price. It’s time to be more mindful about purchasing habits and how those habits affect everyone and everything around us.