Why I hate the phrase Corporate America

It happens all the time when people want to blame someone. The phrase "Corporate America" gets used. This phrase is shallower than a lake in California, and people need to stop using it in their arguments.

I get it, corporations in the U.S. are self-serving, greedy, and gluttonous, but guess what? So are corporations in every country in every part of the world. Why? Because corporations exist in an ecosystem in which taking more is rewarded greater than it is punished.

If you haven't done so already, you need to read The Tragedy of the Commons

In a corporation, you have a group of individuals who are working together to achieve a common goal. Each person is responsible for individual components headed by a board of directors or c-level execs, or both. There is no decision made by the corporation itself, but rather by a group of people incentivized by the structure of the profit-driven economy you helped create.

Next time you think about using the phrase "Corporate America", just remember that corporations are not sentient beings acting out of malice in order to maximize profit. Corporations are autonomous robots that provide the products and services that you, the consumer, ask for.