Every corporate entity is a conspiracy, in which two or more individuals get together and agree to maximize their power beyond that of the sole person. The effect of such a conspiracy is to create a power separate from the individual persons, behaves like a person, but without the individual responsibility of a person.
Most people know of at least one situation when a corporation declares bankruptcy and turns to nothing, while the individual members of the corporation receive "golden parachutes," houses, property, and other perks. And it's all legal. It seems that some corporations are created just for that purpose. Consider the big banker bonuses, too.
I don't even understand how corporate conspiracies ever began under our Constitution. Their meddling in elections is certainly skirting the edge of violating the "one person one vote" already decided by the Supreme Court in the 1960s. Georgia's County Unit System was found unconstitutional under that decision.
The hated ACLU or some other constitutional experts should now launch a test case to determine whether any corporate entity has rights under the U.S. Constitution before things get worse.
William A. Ricks
2 comments:
Have to disagree on this one. This conspiracy of the corporation also extends to unions and any other group of persons who group together to expand their power to influence government. That can be pretty much any group. NEA, NRA, SEIU or any group. This panic is overblown. It doesn't allow companies to go around bribing elected officials.
Corporations are not individuals? When a corporation does wrong it is prosecuted as an individual. This decision is a boon for liberals and conservative groups alike. Free speech for both.
Joel,
When I use "corporate entities" I'm speaking of business corporations, clubs, unions, veteran organizations --- any group united by a piece of paper. They are collections of individuals, but the agreement that binds them is just paper, not the creation of another person. Constitution rights are for every individual citizen. The founding fathers hated business corporations and they never envisioned that the Constitution would ever assign rights to a group.
I disagree with your idea that a corporation is prosecuted as an individual. Who dies when a corporation is guilty of a capital crime?
Bill
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