--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [I]t is a mistake to rush to impose the…" description: "\"“[I]t is a mistake to rush to impose the individual ethical responsibility that the corporate structure deflects. This is the temptation of the ethical..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/mark-fisher-3649_agency_i-t-is-a-mistake-to-rush-to-impose-the-i_2132417.jpg" --- # \[I\]t is a mistake to rush to impose the individual ethical… ![“[I]t is a mistake to rush to impose the individual ethical responsibility that the corporate structure deflects. This is the temptation of the ethical which, as Zizek has argued, the capitalist system is using in order to protect itself in the wake of the credit crisis - the blame will be put on…” quote by Mark Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/mark-fisher-3649_agency_i-t-is-a-mistake-to-rush-to-impose-the-i_2132417.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/mark-fisher-3649_agency_i-t-is-a-mistake-to-rush-to-impose-the-i_2132417.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/mark-fisher-3649_agency_i-t-is-a-mistake-to-rush-to-impose-the-i_2132417.jpg) > ““\[I\]t is a mistake to rush to impose the individual ethical responsibility that the corporate structure deflects. This is the temptation of the ethical which, as Zizek has argued, the capitalist system is using in order to protect itself in the wake of the credit crisis - the blame will be put on supposedly pathological individuals, those’ abusing the system’, rather than on the system itself. But the evasion is actually a two step procedure - since structure will often be invoked (either implicitly or openly) precisely at the point when there is the possibility of individuals who belong to the corporate structure being punished. At this point, suddenly, the causes of abuse or atrocity are so systemic, so diffuse, that no individual can be held responsible… But this impasse - it is only individuals that can be held ethically responsible for actions, and yet the cause of these abuses and errors is corporate, systemic - is not only a dissimulation: it precisely indicates what is lacking in capitalism. What agencies are capable of regulating and controlling impersonal structures? How is it possible to chastise a corporate structure? Yes, corporations can legally be treated as individuals - but the problem is that corporations, whilst certainly entities, are not like individual humans, and any analogy between punishing corporations and punishing individuals will therefore necessarily be poor. And it is not as if corporations are the deep-level agents behind everything; they are themselves constrained by/expressions of the ultimate cause-that-is-not-asubject: Capital.”” [Mark Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-fisher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that blaming individuals for corporate wrongdoing ignores systemic causes, and that current legal frameworks cannot adequately hold corporations accountable. **In simple terms:** Blaming people hides corporate systemic problems. Key Takeaway Focus on systemic change, not just individual guilt. Themes ethics corporate responsibility systemic injustice capitalism law Mood critical analytical skeptical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy reform - corporate governance - public advocacy - legal challenges Key Concepts structural accountability legal personhood moral agency Questions to Reflect On - How can we create effective mechanisms to hold corporations accountable? - What alternatives exist to individual blame in systemic failures? 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This is the temptation of the ethical which, as Zizek has argued, the capitalist system is using in order to protect itself in the wake of the credit crisis - the blame will be put on supposedly pathological individuals, those’ abusing the system’, rather than on the system itself. But the evasion is actually a two step procedure - since structure will often be invoked (either implicitly or openly) precisely at the point when there is the possibility of individuals who belong to the corporate structure being punished. At this point, suddenly, the causes of abuse or atrocity are so systemic, so diffuse, that no individual can be held responsible… But this impasse - it is only individuals that can be held ethically responsible for actions, and yet the cause of these abuses and errors is corporate, systemic - is not only a dissimulation: it precisely indicates what is lacking in capitalism. What agencies are capable of regulating and controlling impersonal structures? 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