Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became ""People"" -- and How You Can Fight BackUnequal taxes, unequal accountability for crime, unequal influence, unequal control of the media, unequal access to natural resources—corporations have gained these privileges and more by exploiting their legal status as persons. How did something so illogical and unjust become the law of the land? Americans have been struggling with the role of corporations since before the birth of the republic. As Thom Hartmann shows, the Boston Tea Party was actually a protest against the British East India Company—the first modern corporation. Unequal Protection tells the astonishing story of how, after decades of sensible limits on corporate power, an offhand, off-the-record comment by a Supreme Court justice led to the Fourteenth Amendment—originally passed to grant basic rights to freed slaves—becoming the justification for granting corporations the same rights as human beings. And Hartmann proposes specific legal remedies that will finally put an end to the bizarre farce of corporate personhood. This new edition has been thoroughly updated and features Hartmann's analysis of two recent Supreme Court cases, including Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which tossed out corporate campaign finance limits. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Contents
The Deciding Moment? | 14 |
The Corporate Conquest of America | 49 |
From the Birth of American Democracy through the Birth of Corporate Personhood | 55 |
Banding Together for the Common Good | 56 |
The Boston Tea Party Revealed | 63 |
Jefferson versus the Corporate Aristocracy | 84 |
The Early Role of Corporations in America | 94 |
The Peoples Masters | 116 |
Unequal Privacy | 222 |
Unequal Citizenship and Access to the Commons | 225 |
Unequal Wealth | 237 |
Unequal Trade | 249 |
Unequal Media | 260 |
Unequal Influence | 278 |
Restoring Personhood to People | 285 |
Capitalists and Americans Speak Out for Community | 286 |
Corporations Go Global | 130 |
The Court Takes the Presidency | 152 |
Protecting Corporate Liars | 162 |
Corporate Control of Politics | 170 |
Unequal Consequences | 187 |
Unequal Uses for the Bill of Rights | 188 |
Unequal Regulation | 193 |
Unequal Protection from Risk | 198 |
Unequal Taxes | 206 |
Unequal Responsibility for Crime | 217 |
Other editions - View all
Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human ... Thom Hartmann No preview available - 2009 |
Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "people"--and You Can Fight Back Thom Hartmann No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
American attorney Bancroft Davis Bank Bill of Rights board member Boston Boston Tea Party Bush campaign century Chapter Chief Justice citizens claim company’s Congress corporate personhood crime decision Delmas democracy democratic East India Company economic election Enron equal protection federal Federalist Founders Fourteenth Amendment free speech George Global granted Hewes human Ibid income industry issue J. C. Bancroft Davis labor lawyer legislation legislature Lincoln lobbyists ment million monopolies Morrison Remick Waite multinational corporations nations natural persons Nike noted Party passed people’s percent political politicians porate president Press profits railroad Reagan regulations Rehnquist reporter Republican ruled Santa Clara County Senate shares a board small businesses Southern Pacific Railroad there’s Thomas Jefferson tion today’s trade U.S. Constitution U.S. Supreme Court Unequal Union United vote wealth workers wrote York