|
Edited on Sat Nov-06-10 10:37 PM by 20score
Imagine, if you will, a person that can conceivably live forever. Who sometimes grows stronger with age. A person so substantial that presidents and kings will act sycophantic towards that person, even after major insults and threats to the countries they preside over. One who can mobilize millions, at will, to work against their own interests. A person that can ruin millions of lives or kill thousands of people with an inadvertent mistake; a mistake made not out of maliciousness, but because those millions or thousands just didn’t matter as much as a slight increase in profits. Envision herculeans so powerful that after devastating entire economies and stealing hundreds of billions of dollars, it is the victims who pay the costs and the victims who are asked to be contrite and responsible. Now, who wants to fight these behemoths? Not me – I’m going to line up with Beck and others to kiss their collective asses.
I’m talking of course about our good neighbors, the corporations - specifically, the multi-nationals. Now, everyone, or almost everyone, acknowledges that corporations serve a necessary purpose. People realize that corporations do some good and they are large enough to handle tasks that are too much for an individual to handle. But where Beck, Limbaugh, all of right-wing and main stream media – and myself, now – have a problem, is when unreasonable people try to put limits on said corporations. That is not going to happen if these super-humans have to buy almost every damn politician in the country. And they have a good head start on those purchases, already. Thank you very much, Supreme Court.
Why human, one may ask? Well, for one thing, the Court Reporter J.C. Bancroft Davis said so in his headnote for the 1886 case, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, which was subsequently backed up by the Supreme Court numerous times. Since then corporations have been people, with rights granted to people under the 14th Amendment. The Court stated that, a corporation is a “person” for both due process and equal protection in 1889. In 1893 under Noble v. Union River Logging, corporations were granted 5th Amendment protections. In 1906 under Hale v. Henkel, they were granted 4th Amendment protections. In 1908, 6th Amendment protections were granted. In 1936, under Grosjean v. American Press Co. corporations were granted 1st Amendment protections. The personhood protections went on like this until the coup de grace for the “corporations are property crowd,” the Citizens United v.FEC case in 2010. Now there was a decision that put government in the hands of those who know how to find good bargains when shopping for democracy.
Why super, one may ask? That’s simple. These “persons” have the rights of other people in the country - but not the responsibilities that restrict mere mortals. By definition, corporations are “an aggregate of individuals who voluntarily get together for the purposes of convenience, efficiency, and limited liability to conduct a business.” Limited liability, but not limited rights. As a biological human, one can criticize the government, or another biological person, if that criticism is true. But that same person cannot criticize the food industry in print or broadcast, unless they are willing to pay a price, regardless of the facts involved. So says the food libel laws of thirteen states. If a biological person poisons an entire town, lake, river or area, that may or may not have caused deaths, that person will be looking at one hell of a jail sentence, at least. Not so if you’re a superhuman. Not only will there be no jail time, but since the Superfund is not funded by the polluters anymore, the likely outcome is that the victims, the taxpayers, will pay for the cleanup. And there are over twelve hundred of those Superfund sites for the mortals to clean up. Monsanto alone is a veritable case study in crimes and no punishment. And you try and collect billions from Uncle Sam while living in a P.O. Box on the Cayman Islands like Halliburton. (Even after poisoning our soldiers in Iraq.) It can’t be done, by an individual. Hell, BP isn’t even a US superhuman, and it can still mobilize a good percentage of our politicians to fight for its right to lie and pollute with only a fraction of actual costs imposed.
So, while others are fighting to bring corporations more in line with what the founders intended, to make corporations serve the public good. (As Thomas Jefferson said, “I hope that we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”) I’m going to join the corporation’s foot soldiers, the Teabaggers and fight hard against mine and my country’s interests.
Now, off to get my instructions.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
