| The Problem: Corporations were first conceived for the purpose of serving the public interest and their charters had to be renewed annually. Over the past two hundred years some corporations have morphed into self-serving entities. Rather than serving the public interest, they now serve the more narrow interests of the Board of Directors and shareholders, many times to the detriment of individuals and the public interest. One only needs to read the headlines about mine cave-ins, unsafe working conditions, shipping jobs oversees, unsafe product recalls, tainted food, tobacco causing cancer, denial of benefits, raiding of retirement funds, and now a massive oil spill that threatens the environment, the economy, our food supply, our health, and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. Corporations no longer have to renew their charters annually or prove they serve the public interest. And over the years through a series of Supreme Court decisions and misinterpretations of Supreme Court decisions, corporations have claimed and have been granted many of the same rights as guaranteed individuals in the US Constitution's Bill of Rights. And in the most recent decision in January of 2010, the Court declared that corporations had the same right of free speech as individuals, thus allowing them unlimited influence over elections and elected officials through their massive political contributions. THIS DOES NOT SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST! The Solution: To bring life into accord with Natural Law, we need only refer to the US constitution since it is derived from Natural Law. It is our best expression of governing life in this country. Our Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights". The Ohio Natural Law Party recognizes that these "truths"…. "men".. by virtue of being human, can more fully act and vote all the laws of Nature and will benefit all people on earth and protect other living organisms. Corporations tend to have narrow (special) interests and have less responsibility for their actions than human persons. We in NLP feel that the Supreme Court decision to offer personhood to corporations and institutions is a serious misunderstanding of what it means to be a "person". The intent of the founding fathers was to guarantee rights only to living human beings. The Supreme Court decision that extended these rights to corporations, unions and institutions must be overturned. The NLP of Ohio recommends a change in the U.S. Constitution (below) that will return to the original intent. This way, life will be more aligned with all Laws of Nature. This is a first step in safeguarding our environment, food supply, electoral process and heath care. SECTION 1. The U.S. Constitution protects only the rights of living human beings. SECTION 2. Corporations and other institutions granted the privilege to exist shall be subordinate to any and all laws enacted by citizens and their elected governments. SECTION 3. Corporations and other for-profit institutions are prohibited from attempting to influence the outcome of elections, legislation or government policy through the use of aggregate resources or by rewarding or repaying employees or directors to exert such influence. SECTION 4. Congress shall have power to implement this article by appropriate legislation. (These four sections are from Liberty Tree Foundation, Move to Amend.) |