Abstract

Unnatural Acts

The degree to which market ideals have gained supremacy in all spheres of world politics, from crime to health insurance to family relations, should be of great social interest. This shift has resulted in the privatizing of some traditionally public functions without regard for art or idealism, custom or sentimentality, culture or locale. When we contract out military operations, misbehavior of the subcontractor technically shifts from state action to transaction cost. The primary duty of any profit-seeking entity is toward shareholders--the bottom line rather than the common good. In an era of biotechnology--to say nothing of bioterrorism--this arena portends battles for control. This is not merely an issue of how to regulate industrial impact on the environment. It is also one of whether and how to limit corporate ownership of the environment. If we are in a moment when governments are ceding much of that power to other monopolistic entities, whether in war, medicine, manufacturing or agriculture, we should make sure we have the chance to debate openly our desire to retain the not-always-efficient rights of citizenship in an apparently fast-emerging corporate order.