Lessons Learnt In Class

At the beginning of the lectures to this unit, the lecturer was adamant that everyone would learn something. This did capture the attention of many individuals in my class, but it was not a surprise to me. This is because of the new things that I had been learning ever since my admission to the school. However, the revelations of the lecture shocked me. It did change my perception of corporations and my government. Prior to the movie, my understanding was that corporations had the intention of making profit, but by first ensuring the wellbeing of the stakeholders. According to the lectures, and the movies I watched this was not true and the core concern of corporations was to increase their profit. On the other hand, instead of the government protecting its citizens, they conspire with the large corporations to defraud unsuspecting consumers.

The Food Inc movie was of particular interest to me. The movie begins with a panoramic view of the beautiful lands where there are crops grown and later on it takes the view to the supermarkets. The tomatoes that end up in the supermarkets are not the tomatoes that famers produce, but replicas. Corporations buy the unripe tomatoes from the farmers and use gases to accelerate their ripening. It is also saddening to learn the circumstances under which the meats in our supermarkets end up in the shelves. Large corporations produce them in an assembly line where they produce them in conditions that are a danger to the health of consumers. On the other hand, there is no care of the animals and their extreme cruelty to animals and the employees in these corporations. The foods available in the supermarkets according to the movie are replicas and do not come directly from the farmer, but huge assembly line organizations.

It is a common trend for large corporations in the United States to file for bankruptcy. However, the country was not prepared for the failure of the seventh largest corporation in the county, Enron. Studies into the scandal did reveal serious and demeaning facts and activities within the organization. The executives of the firm knew of the impending downfall and in accordance, paid themselves before the failure. In addition, the movie reveals that Enron did engage itself in accounting fraud. It was even more surprising to learn that the largest auditing firms did take part in the inflation of returns in order to attract unsuspecting customers. Enron engaged in a myriad of activities that eventually lead to its failure and the suffering of its stakeholders. This indicates that corporations do not intend to ensure the wellbeing of its stakeholders, but rather the concern is increasing its profits.

Maybe the most surprising of all the events is the involvement of the government is such cases. During the enquiry into the Enron Scandal, there were revelations that the government was involved in the scandal. Powerful individuals persuaded the government from exposing the truth. In addition, FDA has the responsibility of ensuring that the foods Americans consume are of the required standards, and its production is through the desired means. However, given the existence of power individuals within the corporations, FDA is unwilling to protect the citizens of America from harmful foods. In accordance, corporations and the government are not as they portray themselves in the public. This was an important lesson and I will make efforts of ensuring that I buy food directly from farmers.