The actions of corporations ought to be held to the same moral standards as the actions of individua

Thank you for clarifying your two points. Your first contention stresses that corporations are rational, and that corporations act as individuals, only larger. It also stresses how the roles of the individual should be parallel to that of the organization. Hence, you discussed how both people and corporations should not pollute. You did NOT, however, make a direct allegation that corporations are acting out of line with the moral standards that are placed on the individual. Because your first point does not elaborate on any specific action to take, I can agree with you on the general statement that corporations should act as ethically as the individual is expected to. Problem: Unless you have a direct example that shows that corporations are NOT expected to act in line with the individual, the argument you presented was a moot point. Your second point was that corporations are more powerful than the individual. Even if you consider a corporation as a collection of individuals, you do not prove any existence of "power" over the individual. Further, your argument to tell me that corporations have more power than the individuals, "because they do" is completely unsubstantiated by any examples that YOU are responsible for providing. If a corporation is more powerful than the individual, than you need to show how that is true. Also, define what you mean by power, because that can be many variables. It could be financial, physical, academic, political, etc. I most certainly shall assert that a corporation is no more powerful than the individual on the basis that individuals created and supported them, and can likewise destroy it. A corporation, or collection of individuals, is not granted any power that other collections of individuals did not grant it. As an individual, I have the power to not support any corporation I do not agree with ethically. If I want to make a strong impact on that corporation, I will gather a "collection" of individuals of my own to harm that corporation (legally, of course). If I was a leader within a corporation, I am still an individual acting on behalf of my corporation, and perhaps I will have resources that the common man does not have, but the organization earned them from individuals, so I must act the way my customers would expect me to. In the end, a corporation is really a puppet of society because its actions have to represent the mentality of its consumers. You mentioned political clout as a reason why corporations are more powerful than the individual. If that were the case, politicians would be looking for corporations rather than voters. Today, there are a number of stringent laws making political donations by corporations restrictive. In fact, there are caps on donations by individuals to ensure that no one individual exerts too much monetary influence on a political candidate. Regardless, the only reason a corporation may have any influence on a politicians' decisions would be if the industry were a necessity to the country's economy. This would include energy, food, and health care. Those also happen to be some of the most highly regulated industries in the country. If you were to consider the amount of laws and requirements placed on corporations today, it's be pretty clear that corporations are weak in the big picture. They are weak against the government, weak against the individual, just plain weak. I look forward to your response! :-)