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The idea of corporate employment as citizenship is interesting and straight out of cyberpunk. There's an exchange in Gibson's "Count Zero" where Angie (daughter

The idea of corporate employment as citizenship is interesting and straight out of cyberpunk. There's an exchange in Gibson's "Count Zero" where Angie (daughter of a corp engineer) asks Turner (freelance mercenary) something along the lines of "Isn't it scary to live without a corporation taking care of you?" I think you could make a case that corporations already take on some of the economic roles traditionally associated with governments, but they don't seem to have taken on the legal protection roles yet. However, I could see a future where the perks of employment include access to corporate retained lawyers. Or maybe corporations will hire lawyer secretaries to allow their employees to cut through government bureaucracy (e.g. to contest credit rating inaccuracies on an employee's behalf). Another possibility would be the corporations and the cities associated with them sort of work together to act like city states. It definitely seems like the laws of San Francisco/California are informed by their association with tech and provide extra protections for the people living there (or at least the people living there who are employed by tech companies).

colordrops 8y ago
Some companies already do provide subsidized legal services for employees.
- nradov 8y ago
  Yes I work for a Fortune 500 company and we get subsidized Arag membership. It's a good deal and I've used it a couple times. https://www.araglegal.com/ https://www.araglegal.com/
  - pluto9 8y ago
    I'm curious--what happens if you have a legal dispute with your employer? Can you use your Arag benefits for that?
usrusr 8y ago
> I could see a future where the perks of employment include access to corporate retained lawyers. Or maybe corporations will hire lawyer secretaries to allow their employees to cut through government bureaucracy Corporations that routinely do international projects have always been working like that: employee x needs to work on assignment in county y for z years? There's a department for that.
- close04 8y ago
  That's a slightly different for of support. It's there to directly fulfill business needs. It's not to indirectly support those needs by making the employee happier as a person and thus more productive. Currently most of the support you get from a corporation is strictly limited to what you need to do your job. The corporation will rarely offer it's services for your private benefit. There are a few that do though. Of course, opening that door is tricky for a corporation as it may involve more than you bargained for. The bottom line is profit which is easily quantifiable. The increase offered by a happier employee not so much.
- vvanders 8y ago
  That existed for Microsoft employees a while back(not sure now). Heard many stories of people using it to get out of parking tickets rather than anything serious.
contingencies 8y ago
Corporations already provide education, health care of all kinds, family health care, housing, career advancement, social membership, libraries, health facilities, food, washing and dry cleaning, transportation services, relocation, parking, financial services and other services to their employees.
- rakoo 8y ago
  Yeah, what have corporations ever done for us.
tomatotomato37 8y ago
I remember reading something here that this is already the unofficial case in Japan. You sign up with a corporation, and in exchange for working long hours at that corp for life they essentially guarantee you a middle class lifestyle complete with legal support, corporate reputation, a social life, and even finding a mate.
- sofon 8y ago
  Urgh, it's really bullshit. A minority of Japanese workers are Kaishain (Salarypeople), and there's nothing you really really /need/ from a corporation. Corporate socialising is a thing, as is finding a partner at work. But given the low marriage rates in Japan, not really that big a deal. I guess there are people who are about the reputation of working at a well known company.
kevinstubbs 8y ago
There were many times, at least during the time of colonial empires where companies would run entire towns, regions, and countries. Sometimes they provided just law and order like in British American colonies, but usually they coerced pre-existing political structures and violently exploited the local populations for natural resources. The people unfortunate enough to have natural resources whose land was accessible to colonizers were either exploited or destroyed the desired resources [0] before the colonizer's ambitions could consume them too. I think I would prefer that corporations - whose interests are by nature not aligned with peoples - do not run the place, as it were. [Edit: Sorry I keep making so many additions!] [0]: "In 1620, the state of Banten, on the island of Java, cut down its pepper trees in the hope that this would induce the Dutch to leave it in Peace. When a Dutch merchant visited Maguindanao, in the southern Phillippines, in 1686, he was told, "Nutmeg and cloves can be grown here, just as in Malaku. They are not there now because the old Raja had all of them ruined before his death. He was afraid the Dutch Company would come to fight with them about it."" - Page 245 of Why Nations Fail by Daron Acermoglu, James Robinson
- Chinjut 8y ago
  The British East India Company being perhaps the largest, most "successful" (in an imperialistic sense, not a moral one) example of this.
- jlarocco 8y ago
  > There were many times, at least during the time of colonial empires where companies would run entire towns, regions, and countries. Sometimes they provided just law and order like in British American colonies, but usually they coerced pre-existing political structures and violently exploited the local populations for natural resources. The people unfortunate enough to have natural resources whose land was accessible to colonizers were either exploited or destroyed the desired resources [0] before the colonizer's ambitions could consume them too. FWIW, that type of thing still happens in the Africa and South America with oil and mining and some other resources.
sologoub 8y ago
Companies often provide this in the form of legal insurance - you pay a nominal monthly fee and in exchange can get certain legal tasks done for free or at a reduced rate. These typically cover common things like living trusts, demand letters, etc. Business related stuff is usually excluded and expensive stuff like real-estate disputes are very limited. EDIT: Here’s an example: https://www.legalplans.com https://www.legalplans.com
melonbar 8y ago
What an utterly stellar book. Willy G is the man, eh!?
travisjungroth 8y ago
This trend is why I don’t believe in policies like guaranteed healthcare coverage for employees, mandatory parental leave, and even minimum wage. I believe these things are so important to our society that they should be provided to all people, not just those who work a certain number of hours at certain size companies.
riantogo 8y ago
We are already there. I pay a small amount each month as legal insurance via my employer for personal legal coverage. Corporate attorneys help navigate govt bureaucracy around immigration. Plenty of corporate resources to help navigate taxes, finances etc.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

colordrops 8y ago

Some companies already do provide subsidized legal services for employees.

nradov 8y ago
Yes I work for a Fortune 500 company and we get subsidized Arag membership. It's a good deal and I've used it a couple times. https://www.araglegal.com/ https://www.araglegal.com/
- pluto9 8y ago
  I'm curious--what happens if you have a legal dispute with your employer? Can you use your Arag benefits for that?

usrusr 8y ago

> I could see a future where the perks of employment include access to corporate retained lawyers. Or maybe corporations will hire lawyer secretaries to allow their employees to cut through government bureaucracy Corporations that routinely do international projects have always been working like that: employee x needs to work on assignment in county y for z years? There's a department for that.

close04 8y ago
That's a slightly different for of support. It's there to directly fulfill business needs. It's not to indirectly support those needs by making the employee happier as a person and thus more productive. Currently most of the support you get from a corporation is strictly limited to what you need to do your job. The corporation will rarely offer it's services for your private benefit. There are a few that do though. Of course, opening that door is tricky for a corporation as it may involve more than you bargained for. The bottom line is profit which is easily quantifiable. The increase offered by a happier employee not so much.
vvanders 8y ago
That existed for Microsoft employees a while back(not sure now). Heard many stories of people using it to get out of parking tickets rather than anything serious.

contingencies 8y ago

Corporations already provide education, health care of all kinds, family health care, housing, career advancement, social membership, libraries, health facilities, food, washing and dry cleaning, transportation services, relocation, parking, financial services and other services to their employees.

rakoo 8y ago
Yeah, what have corporations ever done for us.

tomatotomato37 8y ago

I remember reading something here that this is already the unofficial case in Japan. You sign up with a corporation, and in exchange for working long hours at that corp for life they essentially guarantee you a middle class lifestyle complete with legal support, corporate reputation, a social life, and even finding a mate.

sofon 8y ago
Urgh, it's really bullshit. A minority of Japanese workers are Kaishain (Salarypeople), and there's nothing you really really /need/ from a corporation. Corporate socialising is a thing, as is finding a partner at work. But given the low marriage rates in Japan, not really that big a deal. I guess there are people who are about the reputation of working at a well known company.

kevinstubbs 8y ago

There were many times, at least during the time of colonial empires where companies would run entire towns, regions, and countries. Sometimes they provided just law and order like in British American colonies, but usually they coerced pre-existing political structures and violently exploited the local populations for natural resources. The people unfortunate enough to have natural resources whose land was accessible to colonizers were either exploited or destroyed the desired resources [0] before the colonizer's ambitions could consume them too. I think I would prefer that corporations - whose interests are by nature not aligned with peoples - do not run the place, as it were. [Edit: Sorry I keep making so many additions!] [0]: "In 1620, the state of Banten, on the island of Java, cut down its pepper trees in the hope that this would induce the Dutch to leave it in Peace. When a Dutch merchant visited Maguindanao, in the southern Phillippines, in 1686, he was told, "Nutmeg and cloves can be grown here, just as in Malaku. They are not there now because the old Raja had all of them ruined before his death. He was afraid the Dutch Company would come to fight with them about it."" - Page 245 of Why Nations Fail by Daron Acermoglu, James Robinson

Chinjut 8y ago
The British East India Company being perhaps the largest, most "successful" (in an imperialistic sense, not a moral one) example of this.
jlarocco 8y ago
> There were many times, at least during the time of colonial empires where companies would run entire towns, regions, and countries. Sometimes they provided just law and order like in British American colonies, but usually they coerced pre-existing political structures and violently exploited the local populations for natural resources. The people unfortunate enough to have natural resources whose land was accessible to colonizers were either exploited or destroyed the desired resources [0] before the colonizer's ambitions could consume them too. FWIW, that type of thing still happens in the Africa and South America with oil and mining and some other resources.

sologoub 8y ago

Companies often provide this in the form of legal insurance - you pay a nominal monthly fee and in exchange can get certain legal tasks done for free or at a reduced rate. These typically cover common things like living trusts, demand letters, etc. Business related stuff is usually excluded and expensive stuff like real-estate disputes are very limited. EDIT: Here’s an example: https://www.legalplans.com https://www.legalplans.com

melonbar 8y ago

What an utterly stellar book. Willy G is the man, eh!?

travisjungroth 8y ago

This trend is why I don’t believe in policies like guaranteed healthcare coverage for employees, mandatory parental leave, and even minimum wage. I believe these things are so important to our society that they should be provided to all people, not just those who work a certain number of hours at certain size companies.

riantogo 8y ago

We are already there. I pay a small amount each month as legal insurance via my employer for personal legal coverage. Corporate attorneys help navigate govt bureaucracy around immigration. Plenty of corporate resources to help navigate taxes, finances etc.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]