Corporations are structured like this(listed in order of power): Shareholders own the company. Shareholders appoint the board of directors. Board of Directors hire the executives. The Executives hire the staff.

Shareholders are the most powerful people within a corporation. Now, let's not get this confused with owning a few shares in a company. While in essence you're a shareholder, most corporations have majority shareholders. These are the folks who own enough of the company (51%) to control it. The other 49% are just along for the ride. It may be a single person, or a small group of people, but the control lies there.

This is all fine and dandy. Business 101 really. So what's the catch? Well, shareholders of big publicly traded companies, the companies with the most reach and power, are in it for the money. That's the very definition of a shareholder. The board, the CEO, the executives, the staff, are all required to make the shareholder as much money as is possible. This shareholder ninety nine times out of a hundred has no other involvement with the company. So their concern lies solely in the return on investment, not on the human shoulders upon which they financially sit. It's not hard to figure out then how fraud, sweat shops, layoffs, and union busting becomes common practice. The staff, their boss the CEO, and his/her boss the board, are all just doing their jobs.

Maybe shareholders should be required to work in the companies they own. Maybe shareholders should be required to visit and work for a day in the factories that make them money. Maybe shareholders should be required to live in the towns that their companies are located in. Maybe shareholders should be required to take an active role in the very thing that pays their bills.