Marxism-Informed Corporate Governance

I’m in Montevideo, Uruguay currently, and there is street art all over featuring Karl Marx.

It got me thinking about how the Empire of Australia Company could be organized in such a way as to answer some of the post-Marxist criticisms of that oldest vestige of capitalism: the corporation.

At its core, a corporation is merely a way for a group of people to combine efforts toward a goal.

But the way that the corporation has been governed for the last several hundred years has often led to the exploitation of the natural world and people—both those involved with the corporation and those outside of it.

In this field, there is already good work being done by the folks at 1% for the Planet and the B Corp Movement, but I feel like more work needs to be done in order to re-examine how corporate governance is structured at its core.

The reason for this at this time is twofold:

1. To provide a model for the modern corporation within the framework of the Cascadian financial system in the world of the Empire Universe.
2. To provide a model for the reorganization of the Empire of Australia Company.

What I am proposing for the Empire of Australia Company is a complete overhaul of the way things are structured now.

In many ways, the new structure will have more in common with a collective than a modern corporation.

Here’s the proposed structure:

• Two new share classes will be created
  • Class CR Shares will be for anybody who makes a contribution to the creative endeavors of the company.
    • Each CR Share shall at the end of the calendar after the year it was issued, for a maximum of two years from issue.
      • For example, issued July 12th, 2022 expires December 31st, 2023.
  • Class CO Shares will be for the “collective”
    • Each CO share must be purchased for $25 and is good for a calendar year. It expires at the end of each calendar year.
      • For example, purchased July 12th, 2022 expires December 31st, 2022.
• Shares may not be sold.
• A person may possess only one share of each class.
• Each share type entitles the bearer to voting rights in all corporate governance matters. One share equals one vote. One person may possess one share of each class for a total of two votes.
• At the end of every year, 50% of all profit for that year is divided amongst both the shares classes equally.
• The Empire of Australia Company agrees to abide by the Empire Pledge, which requires it to donate 50% of its profit or 10% of its revenue to charitable causes.
• 10% of all revenue from share purchases will be held in reserve to pay out to charitable causes, although this amount may be drawn down over the course of the year to make contributions.

This outline is just a first step, but serves as a blueprint for how the Empire of Australia Company wants to do things differently.