1. Introduction

The recent Supreme Court decision, know as Citizens United, declared that corporations are "people" and therefore can contribute to political campaigns (and thereby be powerful participants in our system of government) should frighten citizens of the United States of America and all peoples in various countries who've looked to the U.S. for inspiration of a country "for the people, of the people and by the people…" This ruling has fundamentally altered our system of government. The American people must fully recognize the nature of this mistake and take action to correct it or our very Democracy will be lost. This series of papers is not an attempt to villain-ize corporations but rather to awaken and educate the American people and to call them to action.

2. Why corporations are NOT people

When our Founding Fathers set out to establish this country, it was intended to be for the good of the common man – NOT corporations. "…that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Corporations cannot have Life, nor can they have Liberty nor can they pursue Happiness. This country was formed for the good of the common citizen – the masses. The interests of for-profit corporations are in direct contradiction to these aims. The managers of a corporation have a legal responsibility to its shareholders – to use any legal means necessary to increase profits. These often include: reducing costs by laying off workers, reducing the cost of materials by using cheaper – often times inferior quality materials (to the degree that its legal to do so), reducing or eliminating costly environmental protections to the degree that its legal to do so, etc. These measures are NOT intended for the common good or the common man.

Corporations have NO legal responsibility to the citizenry-at-large, only to their shareholders. This feature of the corporation is really not a problem – as long as laws regulate them. These laws are (or should/must be) instituted by a government whose interest is to better the condition of and protect the masses. Once the corporation is allowed to participate in the political process, politicians CANNOT both have people's interests as their number one priority AND get elected. So common citizens, be ready to be marginalized. Our system of government has changed right before our eyes. It had originally been set up so that the alignment of incentives compelled politicians to put the interests of their constituents (meaning natural people) first. For instance, even though it may benefit profits for a corporation to operate a plant as cheaply as possible, its not in the interests of the common man to work in a needlessly dangerous work-place – therefore our government – politicians passed laws to force corporations to ensure the work place is safe. This balance of economic and political powers is critical.

The interests of the common citizen – a natural person with hopes and dreams and a heartbeat – and the interests of a for-profit corporation – a legal "person" are opposed to each other. One wants peace, security, a nice standard of life and a safe environment for their kids and grandkids. The other wants a reduction in all regulation that bring about those exact same things. Under our old system of government (pre-Citizens United), our elected officials where incentivized to protect you and me – natural people from corporate abuses.

Under our new system of government, corporations have billions of dollars to influence what laws get passed. Under this new system of government, laws will benefit profits – even to the detriment of people. There is absolutely no longer any incentive for politicians to care about the welfare of people – as they, compared to corporate donors, are insignificant. Corporations now own almost all information channels by which we get information. Even if a law is passed that is detrimental to the American people, it can simply be presented in a way that hides that, with negative facts suppressed – or more commonly – not presented at all. Millions of dollars can be spent on mis-education campaigns to cause the American public to think whatever corporations want them to think. There are few counter-balancing information sources that even come close to the magnitude of corporate information. It used to be the role of a free and truly objective press to present facts so that citizens could weigh them and make informed decisions – more on this topic in a future installment. Citizens United is a massive mistake that the citizens must correct. Corporations are not intended to and cannot be allowed to participate in our political system and must be properly regulated.

Detractors will argue that our government does not need to regulate corporations because we live in a free-market economy. Free market economies regulate themselves. Well in a perfect world maybe free-market economies may regulate themselves. However, in order to believe that argument, you must first believe that we live in a free-market economy – which is completely false. This notion of living is a capitalistic society is so ubiquitous in our country that no one ever stops to examine it. But it's the cornerstone of the argument for why corporations do not need to be regulated. Continued in future installment.