Corporations Are Not People

"A MAN WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE TRUTH IS JUST AN IDIOT BUT A MAN WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH AND CALLS IT A LIE IS A CROOK!" --BERTOLT BRECHT

Individual freedom is the basis of the United States of America. It is what our “Founding Fathers” risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, to create.

But what happens if groups of people, i.e., collectivist entities, form together for the purpose of getting the government to grant unearned special privileges to them? How will this affect the marketplace? Well, this has actually happened in America, and the result is that these collectivist entities with their government-bestowed privileges have taken over our economy, in some particular cases to the benefit of some particular individuals, but to the overall detriment to individuals in general. These collectivist entities are known as “corporations."

By deliberately obscuring the boundaries between individuals and corporations, politicians have caused themselves to treat corporations as if they were individuals, thereby assisting in the corporate takeover of America, and the McDonaldization of practically everything and practically everyplace, all over the globe – “Globalization.”

Plainly put, corporations are anti-American. They are anti-individual. The word “corporation” does not appear in our Constitution.

Plainly put, corporations are anti-American. They are anti-individual. The word “corporation” does not appear in our Constitution. Large institutions of all kinds (both government and business) were suspect in colonial and early America. In fact, the Boston Tea Party was not a protest against taxes, but direct action taken against the East India Company, which represented the commercial interests of the British elite.

It was not until 1886, after a series of cases brought by lawyers representing the expanding railroad interests, that the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were “persons” and entitled to the same rights (actually more) granted to individual people under the Bill of Rights. This sinister ruling, discussed by Thom Hartmann in his 2002 book Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and The Theft of Human Rights (Rodale Press) has led to the corporate dominance of the individual – a thoroughly un-American state of affairs. As Hartmann points out, the largest transnational corporations fill a role today that has historically been filled by kings. They control most of the world's wealth and exert power over the lives of most of the world's citizens. And they pretty much own the U.S. government: the revolving door between corporate boardrooms and the top echelons of all recent administrations is no secret.

Managers of corporations have more in common, as a class, with government bureaucrats than they do with individual entrepreneurs.

The corporate form of enterprise encourages short-term thinking. Instead of thinking how to preserve and maximize the benefits of the assets under their control for, say, the next thirty years, the corporate manager is concerned with beefing up the bookkeeping profits on a quarterly basis - just look at how many giant corporations in the last few years have had to “readjust” past “earnings,” and take “charges” against current “earnings” for manipulative accounting.

In their book Natural Resources: Bureaucratic Myths and Environmental Management (Pacific Institute, 1983), Richard L. Stroup and John Baden state: “The appropriate focus in analyzing public sector behavior is the individual decision maker. It is the individual bureaucrat, the professional public servant, who makes most of the decisions about governmental operations.”… “Salary, position in the bureaucracy, amount of discretionary budget control, workplace amenities, and office perquisites all contribute to the bureaucrat's well-being. If an agency is expanding its budget and authority, these components of the bureaucrat's welfare improve also. On the other hand, a decrease in the agency's size and budget are generally accompanied by fewer benefits to the bureaucrat. Thus, bureaucrats face strong incentives to increase their agencies' authority and areas of responsibility.”

That is why governments are so inefficient, and why the bigger the government, the more inefficient it is.

The same thing is true of corporate managers – and that if “the appropriate focus in analyzing public sector behavior is the individual decision maker,” then the appropriate focus in analyzing corporate behavior is the individual corporate bureaucrat – and he, like his government counterpart, faces strong incentives to thinking the short run.

Stroup and Baden say, “Unconstrained by the need to generate profits, bureaucrats may ignore or exaggerate the economic efficiency of the projects they administer.” True, but so is this: Constrained by the need to generate the appearance of profits every quarter, corporate bureaucrats may ignore or exaggerate the economic efficiency of the projects they administer. Precisely because they are entities which literally cannot exist without a special privilege granted by the government, virtually any criticism made of government, could also be made of corporations – but politicians do not do this. Why? Because they are controlled by the Corporations!

Corporations should not be able to go into their treasuries and spend millions and millions of dollars on a campaign in order to buy elections.

The Constitution of this country has served us well, but when the Supreme Court says that attempts by the federal government and states to impose reasonable restrictions on campaign ads are unconstitutional, our democracy is in grave danger.

The ruling has radically changed the nature of our democracy. It has further tilted the balance of the power toward the rich and the powerful at a time when the wealthiest people in this country already never had it so good. History will record that the Citizens United decision is one of the worst in the history of our country.

At a time when corporations have more than $2 trillion in cash in their bank accounts and are making record-breaking profits, the American people should be concerned when the Supreme Court says that these corporations have a constitutionally-protected right to spend shareholders' money to dominate an election as if they were real, live persons. If we do not reverse this decision, there will be no end to the impact that corporate interests can have on our campaigns and our democracy.

Think about the consequences in Congress. When an issue comes up that impacts Wall Street, like breaking up huge banks, what will senators be thinking about when they decide how to vote? Every member of the Senate, every member of the House, in the back of their minds will be asking this: If I cast a vote this way, if I take on some big-money interest, am I going to be punished? Will a huge amount of money be unleashed in my state?

It's not just taking on Wall Street. Maybe it's taking on the drug companies. Maybe it's taking on the private insurance companies. Maybe it's taking on the military-industrial complex. Whatever powerful and wealthy special interests members of Congress are prepared to take on -- on behalf of the interest of the middle class and working families of this country -- they will know in the back of their mind that there may be a flood of money coming in to their state. They're going to think twice about how to cast that vote.

When the Supreme Court says that for purposes of the First Amendment, corporations are people, that writing checks from the company's bank account is constitutionally-protected speech and that attempts by the federal government and states to impose reasonable restrictions on campaign ads are unconstitutional, when that occurs, our democracy is in grave danger.

Corporations are not people.

They do not breathe. They do not have children. They do not die in war. They are artificial entities which we the people create and, as such, we govern them, not the other way around.

The Citizens United ruling marks the most extreme extension of a corporate rights doctrine which has eroded our First Amendment and our Constitution.

What can you do?

Write the President, and your Representatives, and  Send a message that now is the time for a 28th Amendment that lifts up the promise of American self-government: of, for, and by the people.

"It's time for a constitutional amendment that makes it clear Free Speech is for people, not corporations. It's time for a constitutional amendment that lifts up the promise of American self-government: of, for, and by the people."

~ Jim McGovern

If your elected representatives do not act then dedicate yourself to voting them out of office. It's time politicians decide who they are serving, the People or the big corporations! The 99% or the 1%! They cannot continue to pretend that they can serve the interests of BOTH at the same time!

And, that's the Truth!