[governance] MS and corporate's 'political' personhood

[Eric Dierker]

I often worry and ponder over this notion of a corporate personhood.  I work a great deal with all levels of corporations, generally on the outside trying to get inside for some reason.
 
The single most trying factor is lack of accountability. This legal reality only reflects the day to day person to person reality.  Huge numbers of people go to work each day happy to shed individual accountability and spend 8 hrs a day without an identity, without true responsibility.  The number one concern of the corporate worker is keeping their job. Not doing their job but keeping it.  (funny that 90% of people complain that is what politicians do -- but a review reveals while they point the finger there are 3 more pointed back to the accuser)
If we combine this reality with the reality of the anonymity of the Net we are in for a future of people refusing to do anything for the sake of what is right -- and merely doing what will maintain the status quo. So in time the only measure of what is right is what is.

--- On Fri, 3/12/10, Parminder <parminder at itforchange.net> wrote:


From: Parminder <parminder at itforchange.net>
Subject: [governance] MS and corporate's 'political' personhood
To: "'governance at lists.cpsr.org'" <governance at lists.cpsr.org>
Date: Friday, March 12, 2010, 4:39 AM


Hi All

Concerning our debates on political status and rights of corporations in connection with multistakeholderism, I think the most important recent development has been the recognition of 'corporate personhood' in a meaning much beyond the narrow legal implication used in company affairs and some civil liabilities by the US Supreme Court, a decision which has been widely criticized, including by Obama. Accepting 'corporate personhood' in the political space is a certain death knell for democratic societies as we have understood and known. 

I think whether we recognize corporate's 'political' personhood is key to the MS debate. I am afraid, if we do, we are closer to the Nietzschian vision of a higher order world controlled by these super-persons, while ordinary persons carry out their servile duty for the sake of the glory of this higher order. 

Parminder

See quotes form a news item 'The Arrogance of Corporate Power Is Evident in US Supreme Court Decision ' at http://www.ippn.org/   on the recent judgement of US Supreme Court ...


On Wednesday, January 21st in Citizens United vs. FEC the Supreme Court let regular people; working class, low income and working poor people down yet again. They sided with the corporate elite when they overturned the flimsy federal campaign finance reform laws afforded by the McCain-Feingold law, freeing up corporations to open the floodgates and buy elections since they can now spend unlimited money in our elections. 
The Court has legalized corporate bribery of our elected officials. 
The Court relied on the illegitimate legal doctrine of "Corporate Personhood" in order to justify this profoundly undemocratic decision. 
Corporate personhood is the notion that a corporation can claim to be a person, and therefore entitled to basic human rights - also described as political and civil rights - and have courts overturn laws. 
As this decision clearly demonstrates, corporate personhood is not an inconsequential legal technicality. Consider this-- the Supreme Court ruled that a corporation was a "legal person" with 14th Amendment protectionsÿbeforeÿthey granted full personhood to African-Americans, immigrants, natives, and women. 
And literally hundreds of laws - perhaps thousands - of local, state and federal laws that attempt to protect our environment, our elections, our safety and health, our right to organize have been overturned as a result of this erroneous doctrine. 


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