Well, it’s official. The corporate takeover of America is now complete. The flag of the new Corporate States of America, the CSA, can be viewed here. Note that corporate logos have replaced the stars. Note also that whether you are a libertarian, liberal, conservative or anarchist, your political significance as a human being has been diminished, probably extinguished, as a result of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision, Citizens United v. FEC, which cemented the hegemony of mega-corporations over our politics and our lives.

In the former democratic republic known as the USA, citizens theoretically elected fellow citizens to represent them in the councils of government. In recent decades the revolving door between large corporations and government saw a steady stream of corporate CEOs, wealthy elites, and government officials. Cabinet and upper level government positions were rarely filled by citizens like you or me. It was clearly an insider’s game.

The question had always been, “Who do politicians really represent?” and “What becomes of democracy when regular citizens are no longer represented?” Distrust and resentment always festered beneath the surface. So what does happen when Wall Street writes laws bailing out Wall Street, insurance cartels write mandates into law forcing us to purchase their shoddy insurance products, war corporations write our foreign policy and create perpetual wars for perpetual profits draining the national treasury, and pharmaceutical corporations decide what our prescriptions will cost? What happens when Ron Paul followers, liberals, conservatives, and the apolitical rank and file seethe with animosity toward “rulers” who represent not their interests, but the interests of the rich elites and the Fortune 500 crowd?

Perhaps we shall soon find out. Working people, liberals, progressives, conservatives, libertarians and maybe even some small business corporations may join in common cause against the undemocratic dominance of the corporatocracy. When conservatives who believe in local citizen control recognize that big corporations and government are one and the same, their focus will find a new clarity. They will recall Mussolini’s famous definition of fascism as being the merger of corporations and the state. And as they examine more closely the role of Reagan and the Bushes in building the big government they so love to rail against and see not government bureaucrats, but profit-seeking corporations sending jobs to China and cutting taxes for corporations and the very wealthy, well, it may dawn on them to alter their perceptions of the world.

When progressives finally acknowledge that Bill Clinton was 100% corporatist in deed, but not in rhetoric—sound familiar—they may finally understand what Clinton’s corporate-inspired policies, like NAFTA, were really about. NAFTA liberated corporations to ultimately harm the middle class in America. NAFTA also is an attack on national sovereignty, allowing corporations to trump local, state, and national laws, here and abroad. Its corporate agriculture schemes disrupted millions of farmers in Mexico and other countries, leading to the influx of people crossing our borders, while huge transnational corporations took over the farming in Mexico and made a financial killing shipping our manufacturing to foreign countries. All of this was sold to us using Orwellian doublespeak, framing it as “free trade.” Sounded good at the time.

When all of us realize that transnational corporations are unpatriotic, by definition, and TNCs can show no allegiance to any one country in pursuit of their bottom line, we will finally have seen the light. Like crawling out of Plato’s Cave and finally seeing reality, not shadows, we could reframe this historical contest as not liberal versus conservative, but as We the People versus They, the Corporations. Thom Hartmann informs us in his book Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of of Human Rights that the original Tea Party and the American Revolution itself was a revolt against the dominant corporations of the day, like the East India Company, a transnational corporation, and a King who owned East India’s corporate stock. (see: Our Hidden History of Corporations in the United States, www.ReclaimDemocracy.org ) How did our teachers miss this one!

Today’s modern corporations often possess greater resources than many nations. With departments like advertising, lobbying, research, public outreach, and others, mega-corporations resemble the government structure of nation-states. There’s a very chilling line from the film War, Inc. which we all need to consider: “In the 21st century, giant corporations will bestride the earth, replacing nations as the true creators of history, amassing powerful private armies to do their bidding.”

This Supreme Court ruling serves as a reminder that corporations are, legally, “persons” with the same Constitutional rights as you or me. This perverse notion came about as a result of the shenanigans of a court reporter, a corporate lawyer for the railroads, in an 1886 tax case, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Corporation. The Supreme Court never actually declared corporations to be “persons” in this often cited but erroneously interpreted case! Since 1886, people like Justice Hugo Black have stated that they did not believe corporations are “persons.”

Unfortunately, if an inanimate object can be elevated to “personhood” and enjoy the same rights as flesh and blood real people, then free speech and electioneering naturally follows. Incidentally, unions can engage in electioneering, but are not “persons” under the law, putting them at a big disadvantage. Unions typically have far less money to spend than corporations, and in many cases, have to back corporatist politicians who promise them a variety of goodies, like Employee Free Choice, only to see such legislation fail or get scaled back. Unions’ success rate with politicians is not even comparable to the winning records posted by corporations. While the corporate media promotes corporations and their agenda, the media marginalizes unions by mobilizing public opinion against them and working people, including teachers, nurses, and service workers.

So, what will the pissed off peasants do to reclaim their democracy? Organize and overturn the 1886 Santa Clara corporate personhood case, on which the recent court case depends for precedent? Organize and pass ordinances eliminating corporate personhood and corporate rights in thousands of local communities, as per the model used by CELDF.org? Form a new party, the Anti-Corporatocracy Party so as to make the battle lines clear and definitive—99% of the population would certainly be natural constituents of such a pro-democracy, average guy party! Follow the strategy and methods of women suffragettes and other successful movements like civil rights which were not aimed at protest and venting of outrage, but at making their issue the law of the land?

Let’s explore all the options and not alienate those who might join with us in common cause against our corporate rulers. Whether we once called ourselves conservative or liberal or progressive, we are still peasants in the eyes of the corporate political class. We have far more in common with each other than we do with Aetna, Monsanto, Halliburton, Xe, or Goldman Sachs!

Our founding fathers deliberately restricted corporations solely to a business role and forbade them from participation in elections and forming public policy. That seems like a good starting place. This would especially benefit small businesses, which would keep liability protections but would have a better chance competing against politically neutered mega-corporations.

None of this will be easy. Corporations will call on their talking-head allies in the media—yes, MSNBC, Fox, CNN, ABC and all the rest, including Jon Stewart, along with the typical corporate-backed foundations and think tanks. People will be planted in talk radio. Special editorials from the “respectable” ranks of society will appear. If the establishment sees a real citizens’ movement start to form, a propaganda barrage will emerge to marginalize, demonize, and ostracize. If the average person can withstand a sustained PR effort and stand up for freedom and democracy, the democracy movement may just prevail! How patriotic that would be! How American!

Print This Article