Are we being deliberately confused or tricked by corporate narratives? Entrepreneur turned philanthropist Nick Hanauer and his co-authors think so. They argue that political or corporate elites resist reforms in order to preserve a skewed status quo that serves their interests.
In their book Corporate Bullsh*t, they present the Six Big Lies which form the foundations of “false stories, fake stories, but sometimes beguiling stories nonetheless – Soothing but toxic fairy tales” which are used to defend the corporate bottom lines.
They devote a chapter to each of the big lies. Quotes illustrating how each lie has been used are presented, many from more than one hundred years ago, and covering a variety of industries from coal mining, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and of course, the tobacco industry. Each chapter concludes with a specific case study to provide a more detailed insight.
The first big lie is labelled “It’s not a problem”. This most often takes the form of denial, or casting doubt on scientific or technical findings. There are quotes going back to the days of slavery, and then there’s this classic from 1982: “No causal link between smoking and disease has been established”.
The second lie is “The free market knows best”. This one is used as an argument against regulation, with the corporates throwing the onus on reformers to prove beyond doubt that the problem is serious enough to justify interference in the market. Safety is one area in which this strategy is used. For example, this quote from the Chamber of Commerce in 1973: “Employers do not deliberately allow work conditions to exist which cause injury or illness. Safety is good business.”
When the presence of a problem is conceded, corporates can fall back to “It’s not our fault, it’s your fault”. A prominent example comes from the gun lobby: “We don’t go around shooting people, the sick people do. They need to be fixed.”
The fourth lie is an extremely common one: “It’s a job killer”. This one is effective because it’s so versatile against any type of regulation. And it’s been around for a long time. Take this quote from New York manufacturers in 1913: “Fire code rules will lead to the wiping out of industry in this state.” And this one from Henry Ford II in 1973: “With the Environmental Protection Agency laws, we’d either have to shut down or break the law, and we aren’t going to break the law.”
Then we come to “You’ll only make it worse” which tries to portray industry as being concerned about the problem, but worried that the proposed solution will backfire. This quote speaks for itself: “Medicare could destroy private initiative for our aged to protect themselves with insurance against the cost of illness.”
Finally, when all else fails, there’s the tried and proven “It’s socialism!”. For the older American in particular, there is nothing more un-American than socialism, and its ugly relative communism.
In the concluding chapter the authors provide some suggestions on how to respond once the reader sees the big lie in propaganda, including pushing back and telling alternative stories.
The book is an easy and quick read. It is laid out clearly with quotes and sources referenced. Several cartoons break up the text.
This is not an academic or intellectual book, nor is it intended to be. For readers looking to go deeper, see my review of Dark PR.
Corporate Bullsh*t serves as a soft introduction to the narratives of political and corporate elites, and one that will help tune your ear to recognize and avoid the deception.
The reviewer is a co-author of Court of the Grandchildren, a novel set in 2050s America.
Main image credit: The New Press.
