Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that corporations, which are considered persons under the law, have full first-amendment rights and therefore cannot be restricted in financing political ads. Thank you Supreme Court Activist Judges for standing up for the disenfranchised corporation, long oppressed by the individual person.
The court has touted the decision as a victory for Freedom of Speech in a disgusting perversion of everything America stands for. The Court has removed even a hint of an attempt to insulate the political process from the profit motive. The market has triumphed over the Republic. Democracy is no longer one-man-one-vote, but rather one-dollar-one-vote.
What’s good for the profit maximizing autocracy that is the modern American corporation is clearly now good for us all. If you don’t like a multi-national, billion-dollar corporation spewing toxic waste into your back yard, well, I suppose it’s time for you to incorporate a business, raise capital, and buy a political campaign. It’s now the American way.
What do we gain if we expand the freedom of speech for corporations, handing them megaphones, without similarly augmenting the voice of the individual? This is not equality of outcome and neither is it equality of opportunity. It is a shameless erosion of the political process that takes power from the poor and even the well-off individual and hands it to the corporation.
At this point, it seems there is some room for Congress to act by legislating restrictions other than bans on corporate purchase of elections. A petition is available to sign at Organizing for America. I’d sign it myself, but the corporate firewall blocks the site–an irony I assure you is not lost on me.
Read more at The New York Times: Editorial – The Court’s Blow to Democracy or Supreme Court Blocks Ban on Corporate Political Spending.
I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to click the “Like” button, but I agree, this is a terrible thing that has happened.