Captain Kate on Coke and Corps

A reader asked why Captain Kate didn’t list the health effects of sugar in sodas and didn’t speak of the criminal policies of the Coca-Cola company.

I forwarded the mail to Kate and she replied:

I stated that sodas were a health hazard and that I believed the long term effects of aspartame, fructose and the other ingredients were get sick, suffer for a long time and die deadly. The third point of the Waterwork campaign proclaimed that drinking water instead of soda promotes the economy and health of the people. The effect of sugar wasn’t mentioned because I assumed this to be common knowledge. Isn’t it? Perhaps I’m wrong and should have pointed out soda’s prominent role in the obesity explosion with all the health risks, costs and sufferings inherent to the soft-drink habit. American children consume an average of 18 kilos of sugar a year from sodas. That’s 13 teaspoons of sugar a day. I even suggested putting warning texts on sodas equivalent to those on cigarettes. In summary, I didn’t mention the sugar because I thought people were aware of it and I was eager to point out that the light, zero and sugarless alternatives were no less hazardous.

The list of crimes by Coca-Cola stretches for miles; killing labor leaders, breaking up unions, using child labor in sugar cane fields, depleting and polluting of water supplies, sweat-shop slaves in China, … KillerCoke has a lot more info.
But, my bad, as they say these days, stems from my inability to grasp the shallow depth of knowledge about corporations. All major corporations wallow in crime. They are psychopathic organizations. Formally. Officially. It is written into their charter where it is explicitly declared that the pursuit of profit must be maintained above all other considerations. Empathy, sympathy, consideration of people or respect for life does not exist within its rules and regulations. The organizational DNA of a corporation has no feelings beyond the pleasure of profit. So when I mentioned that the Waterwork campaign could bring down a flagship of the corporate empire, I assumed people would understand what sort of victory this world be. I assumed wrong. My bad. A major corporation is geared to be criminal. The bigger the company, the greater the criminality. That which can be said about Coca-Cola can be said—with varying degree—about any major corporation.
Drink water!

If you haven’t already read Captain Kate on Water, click on the title at the top of the page.

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“Words don’t always go where you want them to go.
Sometimes, when they do get to the right place,
they’re not welcome.”
Dartwill Aquila

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