Andrews’ Law

There is no “they”.

Bob Andrews long ago berated me for saying something like, “they won’t allow us to do that.” There is no they. There is always some person, or some small group of persons, who make the decision, defend the bridge, discover insulin, decide to skip some testing, indulge in credit default swaps, overlook the specifications for the blowout preventer, pass stock tips, influence juries.

This in contrast to the concept that a corporation is a person, but one that cannot go to jail. A corporation is run by somebody; there is a board of directors, a president, a vice president of product testing. Somebody really is responsible for what happens. There is no they. There is a person, or a small group of persons, responsible. To find out who, invoke Lenin’s Law.

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