"I rob banks because that's where the money is." . . . Willie Sutton . . .

[OneBlueSky]

Willie Sutton had the right idea . . . if you want to accomplish something, best to accurately identify the source of the problem and attack it directly . . .

I posted this on a couple of threads tonight, but they're pretty well buried . . . my hypothesis is that if we want to accomplish anything, we best accurately identify the source of the problem and attack it directly . . . and the source of virtually ALL of our problems is -- directly or indirectly -- the fact that corporations run this country and our government . . . unless and until we take on the corporate government head on, our chances of effecting any kind of meaningful change is about zero . . .

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what we need is a central, compelling issue around which we can rally Democrats, Independents, moderate Republicans, and other who do not share BushCo's view of the world . . . that issue can (and should, imo) be "ending corporate personhood" . . .

most people do not know that corporations are legally considered to be persons . . . and they don't know the ramifications of that little idiosyncrasy . . .

I believe that people will rally around a movement to repeal corporate personhood . . . because the issue will provide a platform from which we can address ALL of the ramifications of corporate governance, from industry writing their own laws and regulations, to obscene corporate executive compensation, to moving offshore to avoid US taxes (and other tax dodges), to corporate rape of the environment, to loss of pensions, to outsourcing of American jobs, to interlocking directorates, etc. . . these are all issues that people care about and respond to . . . and, for the most part, are on our side of . . .

there is great potential for stirring voter outrage if we can effectively communicate -- and prove -- the truth about how corporations operate, and how they control our government . . . making the absurdity that is corporate personhood the lead issue ensures at least that people will listen, because most have no clue about this, and will be amazed when they find out the truth . . .

yes, there are other issues that could be used as rallying points (9/11, election reform, Social Security, etc.) . . . but corporate governance both supersedes and encompasses all of these . . . and because it does, it's the perfect vehicle for starting a vibrant populist movement in this country . . .

if we are ever to achieve ANY meaningful change, we MUST take on the corporations (and corporate governance) and return them to being what they were intended to be -- servents of the people, not our masters . . .