Maybe it is time to start figuring out how to dismantle corporations

[Stargazer99]

[upaloopa]

1. That's it?

Draw me a picture of your vision.

[Ken Burch]

22. Here's one model for an alternative to corporations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation

Not without its flaws, but it is a start.

It shows we at least have the potential to run the economy ourselves, by ourselves, together and for the good of all.

[SamKnause]

2. At one time we had laws to do just that.

Now the corporations write the laws they want.

They pass those on to lobbyists.

Our corrupt politicians then pass those laws.

The corporations then break the few laws that remain.

Our corrupt politicians then reward them with tax payer's dollars.

The Federal Reserve rewards them with 1/4% interest rates.

Their lobbyist lobby for more deregulation.

And on and on and on.

There is no law in the U.S.

The people who control the purse strings do what they want, when they want, how

they want and our politicians purposefully allow this to happen.

All branches of the U.S. government are corrupt.

All of the government watchdog organizations are corrupt, under funded, or closed.

Our prison system is barbaric.

Quite a conundrum.

2+2 will never equal 5.

Corporations will never be people.

Our laws have been twisted beyond recognition.

It is sickening to watch this unfold.

[glinda]

6. truth

[MiniMe]

3. They know how to do it. They broke up Bell Atlantic at one time

Into a bunch of baby Bells.

[november3rd]

4. Pressure

State governments can revoke licenses. Need grass roots, Occupy-style action.

[jwirr]

8. One business at a time?

[appalachiablue]

5. K & R. We used to have the corporate dealth penalty. Reaganomics had a lot to do with it's decline.

AlterNet

"CORPORATIONS SHOULD PAY A LIVING WAGE OR FACE THE DEATH PENALTY" (excerpts)

By Thom Hartmann, Nov. 27, 2013

Doing business in America- and pretty much everywhere in the developed world- is a privilege, not a right.
Up until the 1890s, a corporation couldn't last more than 40 years in any state- which prevents them from being used as a tool to accumulate massive and multigenerational wealth.

A corporation had to behave in the public interest, and when they weren't, thousands of them every year were given the CORPORATE DEATH PENALTY, their assets dissolved and their stockholders losing everything (but nothing more than) they had invested.

Over the years, the Supreme Court has given more power to the wealthy, individuals and corporations. The reason we originally allowed businesses to do business in this country was that some benefit would come to society from it.

But since the era of New Deal economics was replaced by Reaganomics, the principal rationalization we use to give limitations of liability and privileges to corporations and their masters has changed from "What is best for society?" to "How can somebody best get rich quick?".

Read more:
AlterNet, "Corporations Should Pay a Living Wage or Face the Death Penalty" by Thom Hartmann, Nov, 27, 2013.
http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/thom-hartmann-case-corporate-death-penalty

[glinda]

7. Get rid of the gatekeepers and re-instate that. I would go a bit further in saying that

Corporations as "actual people" should also face the death penalty (or maybe just rot in cells doing crappy jobs) for murder of all species and the Planet. That would be just as that is the truth of what they are doing and have done.

[azmom]

9. [phone]

[JonLP24]

10. We need stronger unions

but since the can travel freely across the world to find the cheap labor it isn't helpful. Gotta find a way to reverse that or a way to apply US labor laws. As far as dismantling it depends on which ones. I'd dismantle the corporations receiving taxpayer funds, mainly the ones in the defense industry. Banking -- I favor what Sweden did in their approach in their 90s housing market crash.

[Fumesucker]

11. Give the job to Mitt Romney

Problem solved.

[mmonk]

12. The founding fathers were wary of corporations (probably due to the East India Tea Company).

They had a limit on corporate charters of 20 years. To renew, corporations had to prove some good they had brought to the public at large.

[MineralMan]

13. Which corporations?

All of them?

I believe you have not thought this through. Most businesses and non-profit organizations are incorporated. That ranges right down to individuals operating businesses with zero employees.

Incorporation is almost universal in the business world and the non-profit world, because it protects individuals from being sued for the actions of the corporation. That's why corporations exist, really.

So, you want to dismantle that?

[NCTraveler]

14. No thanks.

My corporation provides benefits to society. It also pays a lot in taxes, helping society even more. We are proud of that, we don't run from it. It also provides a very comfortable living for a number of people. How about we start with the corporations your family runs? Or work for? Our carbon footprint is almost zero and we pay to provide healthcare for dozens of people in need each year. We sponsor four Special Olympic athletes and are title sponsors for numerous charity events.

Corporations need to be heavily regulated.

[raouldukelives]

15. Corporations are fine. All we need is a return to Adam Smith capitalism.

Or at least, something that he might vaguely recognize as his creation if we could bring him back for a day.

Starting with the elimination of monopolies.

If he returned today, it would be like taking the guy who invented rugby to an NFL game and saying "Look at your creation!"

[Ken Burch]

16. Yes. We should work to transform as many of them as possible into employee-owned co-ops

managed democratically by the employees who will own them.

We no longer need corporations OR fist-shaking "Mr. Dithers"-style hierarchical management.

[appalachiablue]

17. Righto. Too bad folks didn't start more co-ops, 1940 on, but then jobs with benfits were

aplenty then. I remember some cooperatives in the 70s, 80s, esp. food and health stores that must be gone now. There's a longtime employee owned bakery in SF I think, a taxi co. in the upper Mid West, some in New England, a laundry coop that services a hospital in Cleveland, utilities and more I'm sure.

[Ken Burch]

18. We also need more co-op banks, to provide credit for new co-ops to set-up shop

and to enshrine social responsibility into the financial system.

[appalachiablue]

19. Sure do. Post Offices aren't allowed to provide many services and products b/c of starve the beast,

but US Post Offices even had savings accounts and bonds from the 30's, 40's. Hartmann has brought up a revival of banking through the USPS, also email service which I would pay for. And in Europe Postal Services have banking I think.

Yes to co-op banks and more credit unions. Since 2008 there are towns and cities issuing their own barter currencies and paper bank notes to use locally at stores and for services in New England, Balto., NC maybe. Anything but Wall Street! and TBTJ!

Baltimore BNotes started 2011



Baltimore Brew, 'Buying into BNotes, Baltimore's Cool Currency', 2011
https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2011/09/16/buying-into-bnotes-baltimores-cool-currency/

[dreamnightwind]

20. Bernie supports allowing the USPS to do banking - eom

[dreamnightwind]

21. Here are my ideas towards dealing with this

We need to break the connection between corporate interests and politicians, and end the revolving door betweeen government regulatots and the corporations they regulate.

The SCOTUS rulings have us boxed in to where we can't get public control of political money without a constitutional amendment. We need to work on such an amendment, like our lives depend on it, because to some extent they do.

But we can't wait for a constitutiional amendment, it's a very long road and will take a long time.

So in the meantime we have to learn to win elections without corporate money to elect politicians who represent us.

One such way is to create a huge negative stigma against any politicians taking corporate money, they are tainted and need to be portrayed that way in every way possible.

We could also come up with more effective ways to crowd-source funding for politicians, so the good ones who want to compete can take our money instead of corporate money. It would need to have strings on it so they couldn't be taking from both sides (us and corporations) at the same time. We can do this without a constitutional amendment, which means we don't have to wait.

[davidpdx]

23. You have to get the money out of politics first

Right now they can buy anything. I totally support what you are saying, but first things first.

[Skidmore]

24. There was a time when utilities were

public utilities. The idea was that everyone used them and that private ownership would encourage monopolies. Well that got flipped on its head for many regions.