I am in favor of free speech. Bring it on. For real human beings, in whom the Creator endowed inalienable rights, to quote Mr. Jefferson. Corporations are not real human beings. They are legal fictions designed to accomplish useful ends for society. I don't think that corporate participation in free speech political debates is one of those useful ends. I think Congress should strip corporations of this particular legal personhood ( justified by a footnote in a 19th century Supreme Court ruling) and limit corporations to the useful commercial functions they provide for us.
The "Press" is also not a real human being. It is an assemblage of human beings, and that assemblage not only enjoys the freedom of speech, it enjoys a very special status of freedom of speech.
The framers granted citizens the right to peaceably assemble. Am I to take it that you believe that when such an assemblage meets and acts with purpose and unity--it somehow loses the collective protections it enjoyed under the Bill of Rights?
Corporations are just such an assemblage. A corporation has interests, and those interests deserve the same protections that would extend to any of the individuals within it. I'll post this same answer on Facebook.
Damn it has been a VERY good week.
ReplyDeleteI am in favor of free speech. Bring it on. For real human beings, in whom the Creator endowed inalienable rights, to quote Mr. Jefferson. Corporations are not real human beings. They are legal fictions designed to accomplish useful ends for society. I don't think that corporate participation in free speech political debates is one of those useful ends. I think Congress should strip corporations of this particular legal personhood ( justified by a footnote in a 19th century Supreme Court ruling) and limit corporations to the useful commercial functions they provide for us.
ReplyDeleteThe "Press" is also not a real human being. It is an assemblage of human beings, and that assemblage not only enjoys the freedom of speech, it enjoys a very special status of freedom of speech.
ReplyDeleteThe framers granted citizens the right to peaceably assemble. Am I to take it that you believe that when such an assemblage meets and acts with purpose and unity--it somehow loses the collective protections it enjoyed under the Bill of Rights?
Corporations are just such an assemblage. A corporation has interests, and those interests deserve the same protections that would extend to any of the individuals within it. I'll post this same answer on Facebook.