I was reading about the Olympic torch as it traverses its way across the world. It appears that Coca-Cola is the major sponsor of the Olympic torch relay and that it “donated” US100 million for the sponsorship. I put that word in quotes because there really is no such thing as selfless corporate altruism. Companies always expect some larger revenue bounce from these acts. In fact, I also think there really is no such thing as selfless personal altruism. There is always a pay-off, even in terms of feeling good afterwards. Now that I have established my cynicism credentials, I’ll move on.

We have all heard about the situation in China. And people are picketing Coca-Cola to say that corporate sponsorship of such a significant Olympic event, bearing in mind certain human rights abuses, is unconscionable. In fact, this is not the first time that Coca-Cola (a company founded in the United States) has been associated with a controversial Olympics, because it was also a major sponsor of the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin. That’s right. Yet another American company and Nazi Germany (*). There’s enough material around on the topic to satisfy even the most curious among you. Just search on 1936, olympics, coca-cola.

Can I share one insight with you, from climbing up and tumbling down a number of corporate ladders over the decades? Companies are totalitarian. The guy at the top says something, and everyone below scurries to do his bidding, regardless of whether it makes any sense. This is not the mark of a democracy. This is how totalitarianism operates. You have some outlet for frustration through suggestion boxes, rewards for performance, cutesy competitions to win iPods, and employee bulletin boards, but that’s just whitewash. The truth of the matter is, corporations are strictly hierarchical entities that get on better with other strictly hierarchical entities … such as Nazi Germany or China. It’s like friends meeting up. Each knows, and appreciates, how the other thinks and operates. With a handful of top decision-makers in one body only needing to talk to a handful of top decision-makers in another body (without all of that democracy, rights of citizens, we-the-people nonsense), it makes communication between them easy, efficient and effective. It’s a win-win.

With all this mind, I really don’t get why the protests are happening. The pairing of Coca-Cola and China all sounds completely natural to me.

(*) Because you already know about the Nazi regime and IBM and the Ford motor company, don’t you?

POSTSCRIPT: In case anyone comes up with the observation that most companies are, in fact, at the mercy of their shareholders and thus do not have the kind of tyrannical iron grip I’m suggesting, may I suggest that you read the Annual Reports of several public companies? If you flick to the back and start reading the list of majority shareholders, you’ll find that companies are ruled by … other companies. (Mostly banks and various funds.) The cases of a group (or even one, in the case of Carl Icahn) of concerned shareholders rallying behind one cause to change company policy are few and far between.