Loving the Corporate Mentality.

I was glad to see a sane ruling by a Dutch court yesterday. The corporate oil giant, Shell, was seeking an injunction to prevent Greenpeace making any sort of protest close to land owned by the company. This is the corporate mentality at its most blatantly arrogant. (And it’s the mentality that Mr Romney is so enamoured with.)

Fortunately, the judges ruled against Shell, arguing that companies who are engaged in controversial practices should expect a reasonable level of peaceful protest. What’s the betting that Shell will appeal, and that words will be whispered in ears, and maybe a little money will change hands behind backs? Or are the Dutch judiciary incorruptible? Let’s hope so.

And on the subject of the corporate mentality, it was also reported today that the world’s biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum, has sacked 12,000 South African miners for striking in pursuit of a pay claim. Still, at least the police didn’t shoot a few dozen of them dead this time.