I think a lot of people would say that we've been in that era for a while.

Companies can hire big legal departments to help them avoid accountability to the letter and spirit of various laws. The state can also use its prosecutorial discretion or selectivity in civil cases brought by attorneys general to deprioritize accountability for companies. Contributing to that last point, companies contribute campaign funds and tax base, and they lobby governments as well, and may expect preferential treatment based on all of that.

The start? This has been going on for as long as I can recall. ExxonMobil, Phillip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Nestle, Purdue Pharma, Monsanto, Johnson and Johnson, Volkswagen, Meta, Boeing... and those are just off the top of my head. Each of these companies was either caught red handed, convicted (in court or in public opinion) and walked away with little to no penalty for their crimes.

This isn't the start of anything. We've been living in the era of Corporate non-liability for decades.

i mean...were they really liable before this point? Maybe they get a symbolic pittance of a settlement or fine from time to time, but it is usually a tiny fraction of the amount of money they made through the infraction itself.

Huh. Well then I guess we aren't liable for our interactions with them in return, right?

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