Corporations and Politics

[Cassius23]

OK, first, a very quick bit of education.

"Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

I'm willing to bet you may think this was a quote made by Howard Dean. Or Kerry, or maybe Noam Chomsky. Perhaps someone who is railing against political donations and the power of corporations in American politics.

It is an appropriate quote for our time, especially considering that one of the reasons for the similarities between the Democrats and Republicans is that corporations tend to donate heavily to both parties(true, more to the Republicans but not THAT much more).

It is a quote that speaks to us about Bush's blatant favoritism to the ultra rich and to the lack of integrity our public servants have had continuously for quite some time.

Do you want to know who said that quote?

It'll surprise you.

I'll get back to that in a moment. I promise.

For now, let's talk a bit about corporations.

The idea of a corporation was originally that it was created by the government for a specific purpose, such as to trade in tea(the British East India Company). Corporations slowly were weaned away from this idea until the Supreme Court case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad(1886) in which corporations were declared to have a sort of "legal person-hood". This means that corporations, as opposed to being beholden to the government for their existence, they were independent entities with their own rights.

Independent entities with billions of dollars and no real legal accountability.

Yeah, scary, isn't it?

So, here's the deal. More basic than the Diebold problem, the Bush problem and all of the other problems we are dealing with right now is the situation with corporations. As long as they can act as individuals we will only be cutting heads off of a hydra.

Oh, and the quote?

It was from Abraham Lincoln Nov. 21, 1864 in a letter he wrote.

Creepy, isn't it?

Cassius23

[Melodybe]

1. kicked and nominated!

Welcome to DU, I like you already.

[Cassius23]

2. Thank you..

this is one of those topics that not a lot of people realize. It is almost like telling a fish about water.

Most people don't realize that corporations didn't always have First Amendment rights as they do now and that there are very strong arguments against why they should still be subject to government review and potential dissolution if they are acting in a manner that is contrary to the good of the Republic(capital punishment; bad for people, good for corporations).

[Melodybe]

3. kicked again

BTW, my last thread doesn't refer to you, ou are one of the few I mentioned.

But we've been getting lots of trolls lately and they are starting to piss me off.

[mrdmk]

4. The Supreme Court case of

Santa Clara County verse Southern Pacific Railroad(1886) is truly an enigma. There are claims that the Supreme Court did not rule in favor of Southern Pacific Railroad that it was a clerical error. The problem with this determination of history is that nobody brothered correcting the error at that time thus leading the the second claim that nobody wanted the error corrected. From that point on, every-time a corporation wanted more of something or got into trouble somehow they refer back to this case.

I really think that for the good of the country a reversal of this case would be a good thing, especially after reading, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man".

[Cassius23]

5. I think that's the 10 billionth recommendation

that I've gotten for that book. I am definitely going to check it out.

The main thing that worries me about plugging the issue of corporate person-hood is that it is WAY WAY ahead of most people as far as level of complexity and therefore is tough to get a lot of people behind.

However, as I consider it very, very important I'm gonna keep trying to simplify and plug it, cause that's what I do. :)

[oscar111]

6. people, befuddled, actually respect dr's who become a Corporation, and any

company that calls itself a LLC.

dr's who incorporate tout that, as if they are big and impressive. In reality, they are slip-ups who want to avoid personal guilt and cost.

LLC's also use the initials to impress folks, when in reality it stands for limited liability. Hmmm. again, weaseling out of responsibility for harm done to others. Not much to respect there. Not much safety when close to such a "being".

so many are befuddled after hi school courses on economics. I was totally fooled for a while at that age. Readers Digest at that age did not help.

we need many months of AAR to help folks see reality. DNC and aflcio should give grants to AAR to expand... if you are in either, lobby them for grants to AAR. PBS gets grants, why not AAR? add it to your Will too.

[Cassius23]

7. What is really funny..

is that if you have around $500 or so, you can incorporate in under 24 hours. I had to do that for my current job(I am a sole proprietorship that gets paid to contract my single employee, me, to the company that I go and spend my 40 hours a week at). This is actually where I found out about the hideously obtuse and bizarre advantages that companies have and about how their current structure is such bad news for the country.

[LightningFlash]

8. So let them fail into the ether just like General Motors....

There goes their power....

[Cassius23]

9. That would work kinda...

but the problem with that is that it's like the hydra from Greek myth. General Motors falls and then Ford and Nike go raw. Ford and Nike go belly up and then HORRIDNEWCORP and some other company rise and do the same thing. As long as the current structure is in place the only thing that will change is who is abusing the power. Therefore we must acknowledge the fact that, though corporations are not evil by their nature, they are business structures designed for economic ease of mass investment and reduced liability, not individuals who deserve protection under the Bill of Rights.

[lostnfound]

10. Snopes says this is false (unfortunately).

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/lincoln.htm

[dr.zoidberg]

11. Oh that's a big surprise(sarcasm)

Everyone knows that both sides will kiss the ass of any big corporation that will support them. As for myself, I don't like those businesses being involved in the political process. I feel this way because inevitably it creates a conflict of interest for the politicians(not that has ever bothered politicians before).

[slay]

12. Corporations are OUT OF CONTROL

And it doesn't look like our government cares AT ALL. The rich get richer and the poor get Jesus - which in turn helps the rich get richer as long as they keep the Jesus people on their side. The whole thing is sickening.