By Bill Moyers, Berrett-Koehler
Publishers
Posted on December 11, 2011, Printed on December 12,
2011
(Editor’s note: The following is the foreword to Corporations Are Not
People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About
It, by Jeffrey Clements, a new book from
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.)
Rarely have so few imposed such damage on so many. When five conservative
members of the Supreme Court handed for-profit corporations the right to
secretly flood political campaigns with tidal waves of cash on the eve of an
election, they moved America closer to outright plutocracy, where political
power derived from wealth is devoted to the protection of wealth. It is now
official: Just as they have adorned our athletic stadiums and multiple places of
public assembly with their logos, corporations can officially put their brand on
the government of the United States as well as the executive, legislative, and
judicial branches of the fifty states.
The decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
giving “artificial entities†the same rights of “free speech†as living,
breathing human beings will likely prove as infamous as the Dred Scott
ruling of 1857 that opened the unsettled territories of the United States
to slavery whether future inhabitants wanted it or not. It took a civil war and
another hundred years of enforced segregation and deprivation before the effects
of that ruling were finally exorcised from our laws. God spare us civil strife
over the pernicious consequences of Citizens United, but unless
citizens stand their ground, America will divide even more swiftly into winners
and losers with little pity for the latter. Citizens United is but the
latest battle in the class war waged for thirty years from the top down by the
corporate and political right. Instead of creating a fair and level playing
field for all, government would become the agent of the powerful and privileged.
Public institutions, laws, and regulations, as well as the ideas, norms, and
beliefs that aimed to protect the common good and helped create America’s iconic
middle class, would become increasingly vulnerable. The Nobel Laureate economist
Robert Solow succinctly summed up the results: “The redistribution of wealth in
favor of the wealthy and of power in favor of the powerful.†In the wake of
Citizens United, popular resistance is all that can prevent the richest
economic interests in the country from buying the democratic process lock,
stock, and barrel.
giving “artificial entities†the same rights of “free speech†as living,
breathing human beings will likely prove as infamous as the Dred Scott
ruling of 1857 that opened the unsettled territories of the United States
to slavery whether future inhabitants wanted it or not. It took a civil war and
another hundred years of enforced segregation and deprivation before the effects
of that ruling were finally exorcised from our laws. God spare us civil strife
over the pernicious consequences of Citizens United, but unless
citizens stand their ground, America will divide even more swiftly into winners
and losers with little pity for the latter. Citizens United is but the
latest battle in the class war waged for thirty years from the top down by the
corporate and political right. Instead of creating a fair and level playing
field for all, government would become the agent of the powerful and privileged.
Public institutions, laws, and regulations, as well as the ideas, norms, and
beliefs that aimed to protect the common good and helped create America’s iconic
middle class, would become increasingly vulnerable. The Nobel Laureate economist
Robert Solow succinctly summed up the results: “The redistribution of wealth in
favor of the wealthy and of power in favor of the powerful.†In the wake of
Citizens United, popular resistance is all that can prevent the richest
economic interests in the country from buying the democratic process lock,
stock, and barrel.
America has a long record of conflict with corporations. Wealth acquired
under capitalism is in and of itself no enemy to democracy, but wealth armed
with political power — power to choke off opportunities for others to rise,
power to subvert public purposes and deny public needs — is a proven danger to
the “general welfare†proclaimed in the Preamble to the Constitution as one of
the justifications for America’s existence.
under capitalism is in and of itself no enemy to democracy, but wealth armed
with political power — power to choke off opportunities for others to rise,
power to subvert public purposes and deny public needs — is a proven danger to
the “general welfare†proclaimed in the Preamble to the Constitution as one of
the justifications for America’s existence.
In its founding era, Alexander Hamilton created a financial system for our
infant republic that mixed subsidies, tariffs, and a central bank to establish a
viable economy and sound public credit. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson
warned Americans to beware of the political ambitions of that system’s
managerial class. Madison feared that the “spirit of speculation†would lead to
“a government operating by corrupt influence, substituting the motive of private
interest in place of public duty.†Jefferson hoped that “we shall crush in its
birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge
our government to a trial of strength and [to] bid defiance to the laws of our
country.†Radical ideas? Class warfare? The voters didn’t think so. In 1800,
they made Jefferson the third president and then reelected him, and in 1808 they
put Madison in the White House for the next eight years.
infant republic that mixed subsidies, tariffs, and a central bank to establish a
viable economy and sound public credit. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson
warned Americans to beware of the political ambitions of that system’s
managerial class. Madison feared that the “spirit of speculation†would lead to
“a government operating by corrupt influence, substituting the motive of private
interest in place of public duty.†Jefferson hoped that “we shall crush in its
birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge
our government to a trial of strength and [to] bid defiance to the laws of our
country.†Radical ideas? Class warfare? The voters didn’t think so. In 1800,
they made Jefferson the third president and then reelected him, and in 1808 they
put Madison in the White House for the next eight years.
Andrew Jackson, the overwhelming people’s choice of 1828, vetoed the
rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States in the summer of 1832.
Twenty percent of its stock was government-owned; the rest was held by private
investors, some of them foreigners and all of them wealthy. Jackson argued that
the bank’s official connections and size gave it unfair advantages over local
competition. In his veto message, he said: “[This act] seems to be predicated on
the erroneous idea that the present stockholders have a prescriptive right not
only to the favor but to the bounty of Government. … It is to be regretted
that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their
selfish purposes.†Four months later, Jackson was easily reelected in a decisive
victory over plutocracy.
rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States in the summer of 1832.
Twenty percent of its stock was government-owned; the rest was held by private
investors, some of them foreigners and all of them wealthy. Jackson argued that
the bank’s official connections and size gave it unfair advantages over local
competition. In his veto message, he said: “[This act] seems to be predicated on
the erroneous idea that the present stockholders have a prescriptive right not
only to the favor but to the bounty of Government. … It is to be regretted
that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their
selfish purposes.†Four months later, Jackson was easily reelected in a decisive
victory over plutocracy.
The predators roared back in the Gilded Age that followed the Civil War.
Corruption born of the lust for money produced what one historian described as
“the morals of a gashouse gang.†Judges, state legislators, the parties that
selected them and the editors who supported them were purchased as easily as ale
at the local pub. Lobbyists roamed the halls of Congress proffering gifts of
cash, railroad passes, and fancy entertainments. The U.S. Senate became a
“millionaires’ club.†With government on the auction block, the notion of the
“general welfare†wound up on the trash heap; grotesque inequality and poverty
festered under the gilding. Sound familiar?
Corruption born of the lust for money produced what one historian described as
“the morals of a gashouse gang.†Judges, state legislators, the parties that
selected them and the editors who supported them were purchased as easily as ale
at the local pub. Lobbyists roamed the halls of Congress proffering gifts of
cash, railroad passes, and fancy entertainments. The U.S. Senate became a
“millionaires’ club.†With government on the auction block, the notion of the
“general welfare†wound up on the trash heap; grotesque inequality and poverty
festered under the gilding. Sound familiar?
Then came a judicial earthquake. In 1886, a conservative Supreme Court
conferred the divine gift of life on the Southern Pacific Railroad and by
extension to all other corporations. The railroad was declared to be a “person,â€
protected by the recently enacted Fourteenth Amendment, which said that no
person should be deprived of “life, liberty or property without due process of
law.†Never mind that the amendment was enacted to protect the rights of freed
slaves who were now U.S. citizens. Never mind that a corporation possessed
neither a body to be kicked nor a soul to be damned (or saved!). The Court
decided that it had the same rights of “personhood†as a walking, talking
citizen and was entitled to enjoy every liberty protected by the Constitution
that flesh-and-blood individuals could claim, even though it did not share their
disadvantage of being mortal. It could move where it chose, buy any kind of
property it chose, and select its directors and stockholders from anywhere it
chose. Welcome to unregulated multinational conglomerates, although unforeseen
at the time. Welcome to tax shelters, at home and offshore, and to subsidies
galore, paid for by the taxes of unsuspecting working people. Corporations were
endowed with the rights of “personhood†but exempted from the responsibilities
of citizenship.
conferred the divine gift of life on the Southern Pacific Railroad and by
extension to all other corporations. The railroad was declared to be a “person,â€
protected by the recently enacted Fourteenth Amendment, which said that no
person should be deprived of “life, liberty or property without due process of
law.†Never mind that the amendment was enacted to protect the rights of freed
slaves who were now U.S. citizens. Never mind that a corporation possessed
neither a body to be kicked nor a soul to be damned (or saved!). The Court
decided that it had the same rights of “personhood†as a walking, talking
citizen and was entitled to enjoy every liberty protected by the Constitution
that flesh-and-blood individuals could claim, even though it did not share their
disadvantage of being mortal. It could move where it chose, buy any kind of
property it chose, and select its directors and stockholders from anywhere it
chose. Welcome to unregulated multinational conglomerates, although unforeseen
at the time. Welcome to tax shelters, at home and offshore, and to subsidies
galore, paid for by the taxes of unsuspecting working people. Corporations were
endowed with the rights of “personhood†but exempted from the responsibilities
of citizenship.
That’s the doctrine picked up and dusted off by the John Roberts Court in
its ruling on Citizens United. Ignoring a century of modifying
precedent, the court gave our corporate sovereigns a “sky’s the limit†right to
pour money into political campaigns for the purpose of influencing the outcome.
And to do so without public disclosure. We might as well say farewell to the
very idea of fair play. Farewell, too, to representative government “of, by, and
for the people.â€
its ruling on Citizens United. Ignoring a century of modifying
precedent, the court gave our corporate sovereigns a “sky’s the limit†right to
pour money into political campaigns for the purpose of influencing the outcome.
And to do so without public disclosure. We might as well say farewell to the
very idea of fair play. Farewell, too, to representative government “of, by, and
for the people.â€
Unless.
Unless “We, the People†— flesh-and-blood humans, outraged at the selling
off of our government — fight back.
off of our government — fight back.
It’s been done before. As my friend and longtime colleague, the historian
Bernard Weisberger, wrote recently, the Supreme Court remained a procorporate
conservative fortress for the next fifty years after the Southern Pacific
decision. Decade after decade it struck down laws aimed to share power with the
citizenry and to promote “the general welfare.†In 1895, it declared
unconstitutional a measure providing for an income tax and gutted the Sherman
Antitrust Act by finding a loophole for a sugar trust. In 1905, it killed a New
York state law limiting working hours. In 1917, it did likewise to a prohibition
against child labor. In 1923, it wiped out another law that set minimum wages
for women. In 1935 and 1936, it struck down early New Deal recovery acts.
Bernard Weisberger, wrote recently, the Supreme Court remained a procorporate
conservative fortress for the next fifty years after the Southern Pacific
decision. Decade after decade it struck down laws aimed to share power with the
citizenry and to promote “the general welfare.†In 1895, it declared
unconstitutional a measure providing for an income tax and gutted the Sherman
Antitrust Act by finding a loophole for a sugar trust. In 1905, it killed a New
York state law limiting working hours. In 1917, it did likewise to a prohibition
against child labor. In 1923, it wiped out another law that set minimum wages
for women. In 1935 and 1936, it struck down early New Deal recovery acts.
But in the face of such discouragement, embattled citizens refused to give
up. Into their hearts, wrote the progressive Kansas journalist William Allen
White, “had come a sense that their civilization needed recasting, that the
government had fallen into the hands of self-seekers, that a new relationship
should be established between the haves and the have-nots.†Not content merely
to wring their hands and cry “Woe is us,†everyday citizens researched the
issues, organized public events to educate their neighbors, held rallies, made
speeches, petitioned and canvassed, marched and exhorted. They would elect the
twentieth-century governments that restored “the general welfare†as a pillar of
American democracy, setting in place legally ordained minimum wages, maximum
working hours, child labor laws, workmen’s safety and compensation laws, pure
foods and safe drugs, Social Security and Medicare, and rules to promote
competitive rather than monopolistic financial and business markets.
up. Into their hearts, wrote the progressive Kansas journalist William Allen
White, “had come a sense that their civilization needed recasting, that the
government had fallen into the hands of self-seekers, that a new relationship
should be established between the haves and the have-nots.†Not content merely
to wring their hands and cry “Woe is us,†everyday citizens researched the
issues, organized public events to educate their neighbors, held rallies, made
speeches, petitioned and canvassed, marched and exhorted. They would elect the
twentieth-century governments that restored “the general welfare†as a pillar of
American democracy, setting in place legally ordained minimum wages, maximum
working hours, child labor laws, workmen’s safety and compensation laws, pure
foods and safe drugs, Social Security and Medicare, and rules to promote
competitive rather than monopolistic financial and business markets.
The social contract that emerged from these victories is part and parcel of
the “general welfare†to which the Founders had dedicated our Constitution. The
corporate and political right seeks now to weaken and ultimately destroy it.
Thanks to their ideological kin on the Supreme Court, they can attack the social
contract using their abundant resources of wealth funneled — clandestinely —
into political campaigns. During the fall elections of 2010, the first after the
Citizens United decision, corporate front groups spent $126 million
while hiding the identities of the donors, according to the Sunlight Foundation.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, which touts itself as a “main streetâ€
grass-roots organization, draws most of its funds from about a hundred
businesses, including such “main street†sources as BP, Exxon-Mobil, JPMorgan
Chase, Massey Coal, Pfizer, Shell, Aetna, and Alcoa. The ink was hardly dry on
the Citizens United decision when the Chamber organized a covertly
funded front and fired volley after volley of missiles, in the form of political
ads, into the 2010 campaigns, eventually spending approximately $75 million.
Another corporate cover group — the Americans Action Network — spent over $26
million of undisclosed corporate money in six Senate races and 28 House of
Representative elections. And “Crossroads GPS†seized on Citizens
United to raise and spend at least $17 million that NBC News said came from
“a small circle of extremely wealthy Wall Street hedge fund and private equity
moguls,†all determined to water down the financial reforms designed to avoid a
collapse of the financial system that their own greed and reckless speculation
had helped bring on. As I write in the summer of 2011, the New York
Times reports that efforts to thwart serious reforms are succeeding. The
populist editor Jim Hightower concludes that today’s proponents of corporate
plutocracy “have simply elevated money itself above votes, establishing cold,
hard cash as the real coin of political power. The more you spend on politics,
the bigger your voice is in government, making the vast vaults of billionaires
and corporations far superior to the voices of mere voters.â€
the “general welfare†to which the Founders had dedicated our Constitution. The
corporate and political right seeks now to weaken and ultimately destroy it.
Thanks to their ideological kin on the Supreme Court, they can attack the social
contract using their abundant resources of wealth funneled — clandestinely —
into political campaigns. During the fall elections of 2010, the first after the
Citizens United decision, corporate front groups spent $126 million
while hiding the identities of the donors, according to the Sunlight Foundation.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, which touts itself as a “main streetâ€
grass-roots organization, draws most of its funds from about a hundred
businesses, including such “main street†sources as BP, Exxon-Mobil, JPMorgan
Chase, Massey Coal, Pfizer, Shell, Aetna, and Alcoa. The ink was hardly dry on
the Citizens United decision when the Chamber organized a covertly
funded front and fired volley after volley of missiles, in the form of political
ads, into the 2010 campaigns, eventually spending approximately $75 million.
Another corporate cover group — the Americans Action Network — spent over $26
million of undisclosed corporate money in six Senate races and 28 House of
Representative elections. And “Crossroads GPS†seized on Citizens
United to raise and spend at least $17 million that NBC News said came from
“a small circle of extremely wealthy Wall Street hedge fund and private equity
moguls,†all determined to water down the financial reforms designed to avoid a
collapse of the financial system that their own greed and reckless speculation
had helped bring on. As I write in the summer of 2011, the New York
Times reports that efforts to thwart serious reforms are succeeding. The
populist editor Jim Hightower concludes that today’s proponents of corporate
plutocracy “have simply elevated money itself above votes, establishing cold,
hard cash as the real coin of political power. The more you spend on politics,
the bigger your voice is in government, making the vast vaults of billionaires
and corporations far superior to the voices of mere voters.â€
Against such odds, discouragement comes easily. But if the generations
before us had given up, slaves would be waiting on our tables and picking our
crops, women would be turned back at the voting booths, and it would be a crime
for workers to organize. Like our forebears, we will not fix the broken promise
of America — the promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†for
all our citizens, not just the powerful and privileged — if we throw in the
proverbial towel. Surrendering to plutocracy is not an option. Confronting a
moment in our history that is much like the one Lincoln faced — when “we can
nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope on earth†— we must fight back
against the forces that are pouring dirty money into the political system,
turning it into a sewer.
before us had given up, slaves would be waiting on our tables and picking our
crops, women would be turned back at the voting booths, and it would be a crime
for workers to organize. Like our forebears, we will not fix the broken promise
of America — the promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†for
all our citizens, not just the powerful and privileged — if we throw in the
proverbial towel. Surrendering to plutocracy is not an option. Confronting a
moment in our history that is much like the one Lincoln faced — when “we can
nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope on earth†— we must fight back
against the forces that are pouring dirty money into the political system,
turning it into a sewer.
How to fight back is the message of this book.
Jeffrey Clements saw corporate behavior up close during two stints as assistant
attorney general in Massachusetts, litigating against the tobacco industry,
enforcing fair trade practices, and leading more than one hundred attorneys and
staff responsible for consumer and environmental protection, antitrust
practices, and the oversight of health care, insurance, and financial services.
He came away from the experience repeating to himself this indelible truth:
“Corporations are not people.†Try it yourself: “Corporations are not people.â€
Again: “Corporations are not people.†You are now ready to join what Clements
believes is the most promising way to counter Citizens United: a
campaign for a constitutional amendment affirming that free speech and democracy
are for people and that corporations are not people. Impossible? Not at all,
says Clements. We have already amended the Constitution twenty-seven times.
Amendment campaigns are how we have always made the promise of equality and
liberty more real. Difficult? Of course; as Frederick Douglass taught us, power
concedes nothing without a struggle. To contend with power, Clements and his
colleague John Bonifaz founded Free
Speech for People, a nationwide nonpartisan effort to overturn Citizens
United and corporate rights doctrines that unduly leverage corporate
economic power into political power. What Clements calls the People’s Rights
Amendment could be our best hope to save the “great American experiment.â€
Jeffrey Clements saw corporate behavior up close during two stints as assistant
attorney general in Massachusetts, litigating against the tobacco industry,
enforcing fair trade practices, and leading more than one hundred attorneys and
staff responsible for consumer and environmental protection, antitrust
practices, and the oversight of health care, insurance, and financial services.
He came away from the experience repeating to himself this indelible truth:
“Corporations are not people.†Try it yourself: “Corporations are not people.â€
Again: “Corporations are not people.†You are now ready to join what Clements
believes is the most promising way to counter Citizens United: a
campaign for a constitutional amendment affirming that free speech and democracy
are for people and that corporations are not people. Impossible? Not at all,
says Clements. We have already amended the Constitution twenty-seven times.
Amendment campaigns are how we have always made the promise of equality and
liberty more real. Difficult? Of course; as Frederick Douglass taught us, power
concedes nothing without a struggle. To contend with power, Clements and his
colleague John Bonifaz founded Free
Speech for People, a nationwide nonpartisan effort to overturn Citizens
United and corporate rights doctrines that unduly leverage corporate
economic power into political power. What Clements calls the People’s Rights
Amendment could be our best hope to save the “great American experiment.â€
To find out why, read on, and as you read, keep in mind the words of
Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, who a century ago stood up to the mighty
combines of wealth and power that were buying up our government and called on
Americans of all persuasions to join him in opposing the “naked robbery†of the
public’s trust:
Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, who a century ago stood up to the mighty
combines of wealth and power that were buying up our government and called on
Americans of all persuasions to join him in opposing the “naked robbery†of the
public’s trust:
It is not a partisan issue; it is more than a political issue; it is a
great moral issue. If we condone political theft, if we do not resent the kinds
of wrong and injustice that injuriously affect the whole nation, not merely our
democratic form of government but our civilization itself cannot
endure.
great moral issue. If we condone political theft, if we do not resent the kinds
of wrong and injustice that injuriously affect the whole nation, not merely our
democratic form of government but our civilization itself cannot
endure.
