To the Editor:

A recent letter writer opined that corporations function as groups of people. One single sentence in that essay set me aback. I had never heard anyone express a sentiment, a belief quite like it. She wrote, “To consider a corporation just a nebulous entity, a non-person, is ridiculous.”

I began recalling conversations I have had throughout my life with learned people, songs expressing the nature and yearnings of people as well as books I have read. Nothing I have been exposed to seemed to provide any underpinning for that bold statement. That left me wondering if perhaps I had missed something in the King James Bible creation story. Nope! After re-reading relevant Genesis material I found no mention of God creating a corporation. 

Still puzzled I went back to “The Origin of Species” written by Charles Darwin in 1859. Once again my memory had served me pretty well. Darwin made no mention of any living entity evolving into a corporation.

Maybe I have led a sheltered life. Maybe I have been misinformed/uninformed by my experiences in life. Maybe I should have already sensed that some theory other than creation or evolution could enhance knowledge/understanding for humans. If someone can refer me to literature that will shed light on the creation/evolution of corporations as people, I would really appreciate the reference. But, until I find something more convincing than the Bible, Charles Darwin and Abraham Maslow (Motivation and Personality), I will continue to rely on the wisdom of those three sources. 

Dave Waldrop

Webster