For what’s wrong with the world, look in the mirror

“They [shareholders] dream of dividends, and their dividends are the ruin of mankind.

“No, it is we who are to blame. You, Domin, myself, all of us.

“For our own selfish ends, for profit, for progress, we have destroyed mankind. Now we'll burst with all our greatness.”

- Karel Capek, R. U. R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), 1920

Dictatorship of the directorate

I've long promoted the idea of withholding votes for directors of companies who are paid too much.  Well, even if all the shareholders withhold their votes, the directors of many companies get to keep their jobs.  All that is required is a plurality of votes.  Since one vote with no opposition is a plurality, they get to keep their jobs.  And their perks.  And accumulate more shares.  And run the company without any consideration for the owners.  Instead of Milton Friedman's corporate purpose of "shareholder value", they run the company for "director value".

For more, see "When Shareholder Democracy is Sham Democracy", James B. Stewart, New York Times, 2013-04-12.