To define karma is next to impossible because it manifests itself in all shapes, sizes, and forms to all peoples at all times. A question I’ve always asked myself is whether multinational corporations abide by the rules of karma and energy. What happens when a corporation causes damage to the world at large, and in what form does the negative energy they’ve sent out return to them?

Taken for a Ride, Jim Klein’s extraordinary 1996 documentary about the history of public transportation in the United States, suggests some answers; it’s a revealing examination of the question of responsibility and what happens when a corporation unbalances the collective.

Clocking in at an action-packed 55 minutes, Taken for a Ride efficiently the story of how, in less than 25 years, the automobile, highway, and rubber industries systematically undermined (and eventually destroyed) trolley car public transportation throughout the U.S. Starting with a brief history of General Motors, the film plays like an engrossing thriller, digging into buried truths and emerging with a damning portrait of the corporate mind’s all-encompassing lust for power. It’s an effective film — frighteningly effective.

For any readers interested in pursuing a career in evil, the film plays like a how-to manual on how to propagate inefficiency and misery in as determined and ruthless a manner as possible. What’s fascinating about the film is how its cautionary tale of destruction and ignorance could easily be a subject for the work of thousands of multinationals working around the world today. If the film teaches anything, it’s that we’re still a race of suckers

Since the film was made before 2000 — that is, before the Bush presidency caused a strident, overblown, hysterical tone to enter documentary film — Taken for a Ride is refreshingly matter-of-fact in its presentation and esthetics. Instead, we simply get interviews, amazing historical footage and voice-over narration, but it’s all completely enthralling. Klein relies primarily on research and testimonials of participants, and trusts the intelligence of the viewer — an approach that always earns my respect.

With the recent collapse of the worldwide automobile industry, the film is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand how an institution so huge could topple so quickly. One could point to any number of mistakes and bad decisions car companies have made over the past 20 years, but I feel that Taken for a Ride provides one of the most eloquent and effective explanations of the topsy-turvy. It turns out that karma is indeed a wheel for everything, and neither the living nor the dead is immune to it.