[net.politics.theory] In Defense of the Corporation

rwsh@hound.UUCP (R.STUBBLEFIELD) (12/14/85)

A socialist has recommended reading a book by C.E. Lindblom to learn how
"large private corporations...are basically anti-democratic institutions."
As an antidote I recommend the following:

*Does Big Business Rule America?*
edited by Robert Hessen
  Charles Lindblom of Yale charges that big business dominates American
culture and politics, thereby blocking the introduction of democratic
socialism.  In his introdction to this collection of six critical essays,
Dr. Hessen exposes the fallacies in Lindblom's argument.
$3.00

*In Defense of the Corporation*
by Robert Hessen
  An uncompromising defense of the right of corporations to exist and function
freely.  Dr. Hessen presents a new interpretation of the nature and historic
origins of corporate enterprise, and a spirited rebuttal to the attack on
giant corporations by Ralph Nader and other critics.  Lively and well-argued.
$7.95

*The Modern Corporation and Private Property:  A Reappraisal*
by Robert Hessen
  Fifty years ago Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means challenged the legitimacy of
large corporations.  In this essay, Hessen refutes the thesis of their book.
$2.00

*Socialism*
by Ludwig von Mises
  Mises analyzes every variety of socialist argument and shows their disastrous
consequences in 20th century politics.  Few books offer as much intellectal
ammunition for advocates of capitalism.
$6.00

*The God of the Machine*
by Isabel Paterson
  Patterson reminded Americans of their heritage.  Individual rights, she
argued, are attributes of the individual, not a gift from government.
Government should be viewed as a hired servant, which must be doubly restrained:
by a written Constitution and by a gold-based monetary system, so that
individual liberty does not depend on government's voluntary self-restraint
or on its paper promises.  She also warned, prophetically, of the tyranny
lurking behind the mask of governmental benevolence ("The Humanitarian with
the Guillotine").
[This book explores a topic that some netters were interested in a while
back--the proper way to structure a political system.]
$17.50

The writeups of the above are from the catalog of
	Palo Alto Book Service
	200 California Avenue
	Palo Alto, CA 94306
The catalog indicates a $2.00 postage and handling charge ($3.00 outside U.S
and 6% sales tax for Californians).

-- 
Bob Stubblefield ihnp4!hound!rwsh 201-949-2846