Is a Corporation a Person? No!
By Josh Glazer
A Corporation is not a person in any sense. Thus, the ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is not ethical, nor legal.
A Corporation does not sweat. It does not have to get up in the morning, or go to sleep at night. It does not have need of family, friends, or any kind of society.
A Corporation has no need of nutrition. It has no rational faculty. It cannot reproduce (biologically).
A Corporation may be made up of individuals, but in no way can it be considered a unanimous conglomerate of people. Additionally, in reality, a Corporation’s actions may be instituted by a relatively small number of individuals, who lie at the top echelon of power.
Is there a Platonic idea of a Corporation, floating up above in the heavens, the same way that the perfect idea of a tree, or a chair, might exist? I would argue not.
Finally, I would argue that the idea of a corporation being a person is a simple ruse to allow a small number of individuals to have a disproportionate amount of power, especially in the political and economic spheres.
Thus, the decision rendered in Citizens United v. FEC is without any basis in law, logic, or ethics. There is no logical way a corporation should have the rights of a person, legally, and there is no ethical way for a corporation to participate in elections, in any form. Funding, lobbying, advertising, etc. are not legal methods for Corporations (or Unions) to use in order to influence Government in any way, especially elections.
I am amazed that there is not a more popular movement against this ridiculously unfair verdict and legal reasoning. Again, it is merely a simple ruse to obtain an unfair amount of influence over all spheres of American life, and the Supreme Court that passed it should be ashamed. It is an overly partisan, corrupt, and un-Democratic verdict.
Are people scared of speaking out against this issue? Are they afraid that they will be taken away in the middle of the night, never to be seen again? Well, now that the Populist Trump is in power, that may become a Reality. The time of rational government is over, and people are in danger of their own leaders.
In the words of John Locke: “When by the miscarriages of those in authority, [power] is forfeited, it reverts to society, and the people have a right to act as supreme.” (Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Paragraph 243)
Corporations are not people, and Citizens United v. FEC should be over-ruled immediately.
