Whatcha Readin’? Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights by Thom Hartmann—Book Review
by Lah-May
Has Thom Hartmann found the Achilles Heel that could reverse rulings on "corporate personhood?” As he writes in his book, Unequal Protection, he thinks there is a chance.
The year 1886 was pivotal in that it cracked the armor which many municipalities and states depended upon to keep corporate monopolies at bay—the rights of natural persons over "artificial persons/entities" (corporations). The Supreme Court case was Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad. On the surface it seemed to be a simple tax issue. In their arguments, however, lawyers for the railroad kept referring to equal protection as guaranteed to persons under the Fourteenth Amendment, which had been passed to protect the rights of newly freed slaves.
While the actual decision did not give corporations the same rights as natural persons (persons like you and me), Supreme Court reporter J.C. Bancroft Davis wrote in his headnotes—a summary of the case—that they did; however, headnotes are not law.
Besides unsurfacing a mistake of interpretation upon which corporations have continually cited for "equal rights," Hartmann enlightens on the conceptual battles that early shaped our government. Thomas Jefferson had hoped the law of the nation would also include freedom from monopolies so to "prevent companies from growing so large that they could dominate entire industries or have the power to influence people’s government.” Yet, especially since the times of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, the scales of justice have continually tipped in favor of corporate interests, resulting in decisions that have had devastating effects on our world, our communities, and our individual rights.
Hartmann is optimistic the situation can be corrected through grass-roots movements to change the laws. He even provides model ordinances to rescind corporate "personhood.” However, what also needs to be addressed is the underlying motivation behind mega-industry and trade: personal aggrandizement and profitability with no consideration for the well-being of others’ or the sustainability of the planet. History provides lessons that even if laws are passed to benefit the common good of all, men and women with evil, selfish intentions will circumvent them, as was demonstrated in the cases that led up to and followed the Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad.
We, the people, need to change and need to be willing to help others change. We need to address the evil that lies within individual hearts, evil that when played out in corporate boardrooms and shareholder votes places economic profitability over and above higher values—even the value of human life.