Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights
Author: Thom Hartmann
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ISBN: 1579546277
Publisher: Rodale Press (04 October, 2002)
Sales Rank: 14,389
Average Customer Rating: 4.53 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
A Clear Manifesto
What if a corporation was polluting, but when a government agency wanted to check on the violation, the corporation claimed itself to be a person and that all persons have rights of privacy and freedom from governmental snooping? What if a community wanted to support local businesses and charged a chain store a larger licensing fee, and the chain store claimed it was a person who must not be discriminated against? What if when limits were set on campaign contributions by a corporation, the corporation said that it was a person and as a person it had freedom of expression (and thereby donation)? These are not "what ifs." Corporations are regarded as people, but _Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights_ (Rodale) by Thom Hartmann shows that this is literally a legal fiction, and one based on a serious misinterpretation of the law. In addition, he demonstrates that the interpretation of corporate personhood has had ill effects for citizens, the nation, and the world.Corporations originally had very restricted rights; Jefferson, for instance, worried about monopolies taking over the government. When corporations (starting with the railroads) became powerful in the Industrial Revolution, they were eager to be granted human rights. They especially desired to take advantage of the Fourteenth Amendment, which had been passed to grant full constitutional protection to emancipated slaves. In a curious Supreme Court case in 1886, there was a commentary written to say that a railroad was a corporate person. This "headnote" was not law and not precedent, but in true irony, the amendment to protect former slaves has been hijacked to promote corporate personhood. It used to be taken for granted that communities could regulate corporations, but now that they are persons, they are able to dodge many such regulations.
Hartmann is not a lawyer, but his research and consultation with lawyers have made his book clear and convincing. His book lists many assaults on good government, the environment, and human rights overseas that corporations have been able to sustain because they have been able to insist upon their own rights as humans. A sustained legal attack on the fraud of corporate personhood is what Hartmann would like to see, for the purpose of decreasing corporate influence in politics and restoring the power of community and state government. He proposes a grass roots movement to achieve this, and makes the results sound well-reasoned and attractive. He knows the powers which corporations have, and what he is up against, but his book is a manifesto for change. If you have been concerned that corporations have too much power, you will find it invaluable.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A call to reclaim democracy
As a result of a legal error in 1886 in the Santa Clara vs Southern Pacific Railroad case in the U.S, corporations were mistakenly granted legal 'personhood' under the Fourteenth amendment. Hartmann charts the results of this legal error and traces the rise of corporate power and its detrimental effects on human rights, the environment and democracy itself. Showing how corporations, some now larger (in dollar terms) than some countries, now have greater rights than the humans who created them, and how through political lobbying, corporate campaign funding and a corporate controlled media, this has ...... the democratic ideals envisaged by Founding Fathers of the US Constitution.A fascinating and disturbing history of how the very ideals of freedom, human rights for all and 'all are created equal' have been consistently and routinely eroded by the effects of unchecked capitalism. In the wake of Enron, WorldCom and the rest one can only wonder with some amount of trepidation where this is leading us, as this undoubtedly affects us all. Hartmann however, as in his previous works, doesn't just criticise from the sidelines, but leaves blame aside and suggests practical suggestions as to how to rebalance this costly error. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5 out of 5
The Ascent of the Artificial Person
The story that Hartmann tells is one that everyone should know, but nobody does: how the corporation came to have the power it now has as an institution in the United States. Normally, when activists or the general public confront the sheer, imposing bulk of the corporatocracy, we get diagnoses of greed and corruption, with antidotes of regulation or resignation. But what Hartmann uncovers is the very specific LEGAL history of how corporations came into being in their modern incarnation. There are a handful of pivotal Supreme Court decisions that laid the tracks for the freight trains of abuse and audacity that then rolled on through, and all over regular citizens.This is a very important insight. Since the corporation's power is fairly narrowly and legally based, it can be undone as well. The notion that we can regulate big companies into being good "corporate citizens" is nonsense if we don't withdraw the legal basis of their recognized rights. Constitutional protections should be for natural citizens only, period. We should be able to hold corporations to whatever standards we want, since they are simply artificial profit-machines with no inherent legal standing vis-a-vis the rights of natural citizens.
As always, Hartmann's writing is engaging, precise, and exciting. Buy this book!!
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