General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIncorporation shouldn't force people to give up their rights?
In moving beyond the corporate personhood argument, the right makes this argument:
"The government simply cant force people to forfeit their free exercise rights when they incorporate a businessjust as it cant force them to forsake these liberties when they enter the workforce, attend school, or engage in any other secular pursuit. More to the point, theres nothing about the act of incorporation (or commerce generally) that necessarily amounts to a waiver of individual free exercise rights."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyashapiro/2014/02/03/so-what-if-corporations-arent-people/
This doesn't seem quite right, does it? What do you think?
A corporation is evidently a special island where real people can escape liabilities while retaining the right to lord their rights over every entity in and out of the corporation. Are there limits to the corporation imposing their rights on its employees? This argument seems to give "carte blanche" to a workplace environment that sometimes feels like slavery already. This might be acceptable if incorporation added some other reasonable responsibilities on a corporation. But it doesn't.
Remember when conservatives talked about personal responsibilities? 'With rights come responsibilities!' The only responsibility a corporation has is to make a profit. Sadly, some "wise" old man on the Supreme Court don't seem to understand how dangerous a myopic corporation can be to our society.
Recall the Hobby Lobby case: the problem they had with a particular birth control method was factually incorrect! It's simply amazing. If we must tolerate the slavery of a corporate workplace, can we at least expect them to be honest and factual? If we are an enlightened nation, how can we survive the stupidity and tyranny from the top 1%?
Just think, incorporation is partly about bad people escaping punishment by hiding behind the corporation. In a way, the victims of corporations are losing their rights to seek justice because a criminal incorporated. Oh, and don't forget tort-reform. They want to erase almost all rights of victims to go against the corporation.
Reagan and his Republicans liked to criticize the government without noticing the power of corporations. To PARAPHRASE Reagan's famous rant against 'socialized medicine:' "One day... we will wake to find that we have" corporate fascism (my words). Under this scenario, Reagan says, "We are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free." Thank-you uncle, Ronny that's exactly what YOU gave us. Corporations stole our freedom.
elleng
(130,895 posts)Corporations, however, are NOT people.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)then theres no reason not to have to give up some rights in return.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)A Corporation is a way to diffuse morality. In other words, if you, as an individual, faced a situation where you had to take someones home away from them, you might well hesitate or decide not to do it - but if you work for a corporation you are required to follow the directives of the corporation - or quit. As an individual - you aren't responsible. Your morality doesn't come into it; your actions are dictated by the procedures of the company.
This isn't unique to corporations - nations have a similar loophole; you wouldn't just shoot someone, but if you are a soldier and told to attack something and kill the people defending it, that's what you do.
This is why you need strong and active regulation of corporations - they are basically animals, living in a state of vicious nature - willing to tear apart anyone and anything in the pursuit of their goals. Conservatives have argued for generations that the logic of capitalism and mutual competition will force companies to act more morally - but that hasn't been the case. The only way to impose morality on the corporation is through regulation.
Or that's my thinking.
Bryant