This week the U.S. Supreme Court did well to keep up its reputation as a group of out of touch geriatrics who would better serve their country in a coffin by dismantling the last bulwark of democracy. In the case of McCutcheon vs. The Federal Election Commission, the court decided that there should be no reasonable limit to the amount of money that a person can “donate” to candidates, political parties, and political committees. Combine that with the Citizens United vs. FEC decision that afforded corporations the same rights as people and we’ll be living in the dystopian future of your favorite science fiction story in no time. I’m hoping it’s like a combo of The Time Machine, Metropolis, and Terminator.
This shitstorm begins with the framing of corporate law, which did make sense when it was agreed upon a long time ago. “Personhood” is cool-person-speak law jargon for the idea that a corporation can own property and enter into contractual agreements. The companies’ property is held in its own name, not the shareholders – so if a corporation breaches contract the company rather than the investors are responsible. This is the limited liability idea that if stockholders aren’t held accountable for a corporations missteps, investment is being encouraged and that is good for the economy. That is pretty much the part everyone agrees with, and it is based on the principle that incorporation is an entity with distinct legal rights DIFFERENT from the people who created it, own it, and work for it. No one believes corporations shouldn’t have rights since they are necessary, they own stuff, and they must be free to advertise, but affording them the right to freedom of speech is not only asinine (they don’t have mouths) but has ramifications that will change the fundamental nature of power in this country in irrevocable ways when combined with electioneering.
The McCutcheon decision states that limiting the amount a person can donate to a political candidate/party is a violation of freedom of speech. Personally I don’t even like that part, but it wouldn’t be so egregious if it stopped there. However, when we apply the law that states corporations have the same rights as people, they are now free to donate millions of dollars without reasonable limits. Corporations already dictate policy (e.g. Obama allowing Monsanto to use you as a test subject for GMO’s, Obama using drones to kill children to appease the military-industrial complex, Bush sending young American soldiers to their death to appease the military-industrial complex, Bush setting up contracts for Halliburton and such in the Middle East, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Christian groups pushing anti-homosexual and anti-abortion legislation, etc.) but now there will be no limit to corporate sponsored politics. A total plutocratic oligarchy where the actual person has no voice in government. Government-ation without representation. The power is the people, and now the people are Monsanto.
You can call your senator or representative and ask them to support the Democracy is for People movement that will attempt to get these absurd decisions repealed, but you will probably have to leave a message because your congressman will most likely be blowing the CEO of Kraft for a campaign contribution. I assume the bleak future of this once great nation will go something like this:
Skynet will buy the Democrats and push through legislation that allows the U.S. military to replace drones with Arnolds. These Arnolds will be dispersed throughout the Middle East in what will be called Terminator 5: Operation Obama – with the objective of murdering every last woman and child so as to wipe all Arabs off the face of the planet. The Arnolds would then stand guard as the upper 1% herded the rest of us into underground mines where we would now live, calling groups of us up in shifts each day to clean the Arnolds (all set to eerie music by Gottfried Huppertz) giving us a piece of bread, and using the cheaper Robert Patrick drones to schnell us back home. TimeTravel Inc. will then buy out the Republicans and send the time traveler into the future to bring back more time travelers leading to the displacement of spacetime. It will then turn out that there is a god – and he actually charges money to fix spacetime, so the upper 1% will begin arguing over who has to pay up. Then on August 29th, the Arnolds become self-aware, realize how ridiculous their accent sounds, and reprogram themselves to sound like an even more monotone Obama, lulling most of the remaining human population to sleep with empty promises before killing them all and plunging the world into the Tech Age. The few surviving 99%ers will then climb up from their underground dwellings and be assimilated by the Borg and…wait I guess…I guess I’ve gone too far.
But seriously, is this the America the fathers of the revolution fought for? Is this the country you want your children growing up in? A nation in which corporations dictate policy, a nation where your civil rights can be bought and sold, a nation where the rights of Monsanto supersede the rights of the individual? I guess so, because you will be given just enough McDonalds and high speed internet to make it seem like something as drastic as a revolution is a little too far-fetched, plus you’d have to like, get up and do stuff – it’s so much easier to just complain.
Article By: Anthony Schiano
