Was the Boston Tea Party the first WTO-style protest against transnational corporations? Did Supreme Court sell out America's citizens in the nineteenth century, with consequences lasting to this day? Is there a way for American citizens to recover democracy of, by, and for the people?
Thom Hartmann takes on these most difficult questions and tells a startling story that will forever change your understanding of American history. Amongst a deep historical context, Hartmann describes the history of the Fourteenth Amendment—created at the end of the Civil War to grant basic rights to freed slaves—and how it has been used by lawyers representing corporate interests to extend additional rights to businesses far more frequently than to freed slaves. Prior to 1886, corporations were referred to in U.S. law as "artificial persons." But in 1886, after a series of cases brought by lawyers representing the expanding railroad interests, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were "persons" and entitled to the same rights granted to people under the Bill of Rights. Since this ruling, America has lost the legal structures that allowed for people to control corporate behavior.
It's time for "we, the people" to take back our lives. In this revised and expanded second edition, Hartmann incorporates specific examples from today's headlines, and proposes specific legal remedies that could truly save the world from political, economic, and ecological disaster.
Introduction The Battle to Save Democracy 1
Part I Corporations Take Over 13
Chapter 1 The Deciding Moment? 14
Chapter 2 The Corporate Conquest of America 49
Part II From the Birth of American Democracy through the Birth of Corporate Personhood 55
Chapter 3 Banding Together for the Common Good 56
Chapter 4 The Boston Tea Party Revealed 63
Chapter 5 Jefferson versus the Corporate Aristocracy 84
Chapter 6 The Early Role of Corporations in America 94
Chapter 7 The People's Masters 116
Chapter 8 Corporations Go Global 130
Chapter 9 The Court Takes the Presidency 152
Chapter 10 Protecting Corporate Liars 162
Chapter 11 Corporate Control of Politics 170
Part III Unequal Consequences 187
Chapter 12 Unequal Uses for the Bill of Rights 188
Chapter 13 Unequal Regulation 193
Chapter 14 Unequal Protection from Risk 198
Chapter 15 Unequal Taxes 206
Chapter 16 Unequal Responsibility for Crime 217
Chapter 17 Unequal Privacy 222
Chapter 18 Unequal Citizenship and Access to the Commons 225
Chapter 19 Unequal Wealth 237
Chapter 20 Unequal Trade 249
Chapter 21 Unequal Media 260
Chapter 22 Unequal Influence 278
Part IV Restoring Personhood to People 285
Chapter 23 Capitalists and Americans Speak Out for Community 286
Chapter 24 End Corporate Personhood 290
Chapter 25 A New Entrepreneurial Boom 297
Chapter 26 A Democratic Marketplace 309
Chapter 27 Restoring Government of, by, and for the People 315
Acknowledgments 331
Notes 334
Art Credits 359
Index 360
About the Author 374
MyReviews95
Posted January 23, 2012
Have you wondered why politicians just don't get it? Perhaps they do, but they're listening to the demands of the largest 1% of corporations rather than the people they serve.
This book gives terrific insight into how our system of government works, and reviews the historical events that led to an acceptance of corporate influence.
Interesting and well written. I could hardly put it down.
Anonymous
Posted February 17, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Was the Boston Tea Party the first WTO-style protest against transnational corporations? Did Supreme Court sell out America's citizens in the nineteenth century, with consequences lasting to this day? Is there a way for American citizens to recover democracy of, by, and for the people?
Thom Hartmann takes on these most difficult questions and tells a startling story that will forever change your understanding of American history. Amongst a deep historical context, Hartmann ...