NationStates Jolt Archive

I was in the "Save the Internet from the corporations thread and this got me thinking...



Corporations are people too.
And that's the problem in a nutshell. If I could make one change to US law by snapping my fingers, it would be to remove corporate personhood.

If a corporation is a legal person, can it run for office??? :confused:

could you elect Coke or Microsoft or Monsanto or Nike into government...or am I totally wrong?

I was in the "Save the Internet from the corporations thread and this got me thinking...



If a corporation is a legal person, can it run for office??? :confused:

could you elect Coke or Microsoft or Monsanto or Nike into government...or am I totally wrong?

So far as I know, no one has tried it yet, though corporations have tried to exercise other rights. Nike, for instance, claimed a First Amendment Right to Lie in commercial statements in a 2003 lawsuit in California. The Supreme Court rejected Nike's appeal, but that's no guarantee of what will happen in the future.

'Vote Coke'

A corporation maybe a legal entity but it's not a person as such. If a corporation can't vote, then it can't run for president is my impression.

'Vote Coke'

Coke v Pepsi for the 2008 Presidential Election? :p

Coke v Pepsi for the 2008 Presidential Election? :p

I'm voting for RC cola. They say a third party can't win, but if that keeps people from voting for the third party it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Can a corporation be an American citizen?

I'm voting for RC cola. They say a third party can't win, but if that keeps people from voting for the third party it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

pfft...go ahead throw your vote away...I'm all for Nike/Coke '08 although i don't I like their foreign policy

the last thing we need is to escalate the cola wars!

though by all means corporations do run the world so we may as well make it official :(

pfft...go ahead throw your vote away...I'm all for Nike/Coke '08 although i don't I like their foreign policy

Coke's "carbonated conservatism" is just a cover for slashing social programs and making people belch. RC really cares about us. They're fighting for the common man, not the corporate interests.

the last thing we need is to escalate the cola wars!

http://www.thechallengedividend.com/the_challenge_dividend/images/pepsi_and_coke.jpg

though by all means corporations do run the world so we may as well make it official :(

:( .......

Coke's "carbonated conservatism" is just a cover for slashing social programs and making people belch. RC really cares about us. They're fighting for the common man, not the corporate interests.

you just may win the election with that attitude....

5 more posts to 400

The simple answer is "no", because a corporation is not a person. There is such a thing as corporate personhood, but this does not mean a corporation is a person, but rather, it is treated like a person in certain circumstances.

What those circumstances are, however, as I said in the other thread, are related to the function of what a corporation is (IE a corporation is treated like a person to assume liability over the owners, as that is the function of a corporation).

As such corporations are treated like a person only to the extent that treating them like a person, as a matter of law, is necessary and proper for a corporation to assume its function (IE, to avoid personal liability).

As running for, and holding office, is not inherent in the function of a corporation, there is no need to treat it "like a person" in that regard.

But couldn't they start a party with leadership figures from the corp in all top positions in the party, the CEO as presidential candidate and so on?

Steve Ballmer as US president with the US military under his command, that would be a blast. :eek:

If a corporation can be a person, why can't a chimp?

If a corporation can be a person, why can't a chimp?

Corporations pay more taxes.

If a corporation can be a person, why can't a chimp?

Apes before profits!

If a corporation is a legal person, can it run for office??? :confused:

could you elect Coke or Microsoft or Monsanto or Nike into government...or am I totally wrong?
GOD...FOR...BID...

I was in the "Save the Internet from the corporations thread and this got me thinking...



If a corporation is a legal person, can it run for office??? :confused:

could you elect Coke or Microsoft or Monsanto or Nike into government...or am I totally wrong?

Devil's Advocate:

Well why not? Why instead of National Diffirences, why not Corporate Competition. Why don't we all strive for corporate nations?
We work for money, why not die for it?
Our economies are all major parts of our societies, and business is a major part of what perpetuates our social structures and many of us run our lives based on it. Traditional ideaology is dying, the need to manage our economy isn't. Money is simple to understand, and it is more important to us at some points in our society that we can almost consider Nike our new Democracy.

Consumer loyalty is in a sense the same as being a patriot to a company, so why can't a patriot to a nation be our new loyal consumer.
All the workers of a single company can share a common stock, and will all be assured prosperity, and peace through corporate advantage

Devil's Advocate:

Well why not? Why instead of National Diffirences, why not Corporate Competition. Why don't we all strive for corporate nations?
We work for money, why not die for it?
Our economies are all major parts of our societies, and business is a major part of what perpetuates our social structures and many of us run our lives based on it. Traditional ideaology is dying, the need to manage our economy isn't. Money is simple to understand, and it is more important to us at some points in our society that we can almost consider Nike our new Democracy.

Consumer loyalty is in a sense the same as being a patriot to a company, so why can't a patriot to a nation be our new loyal consumer.
All the workers of a single company can share a common stock, and will all be assured prosperity, and peace through corporate advantage

That is kind of what Max Barry had in mind when he wrote Jennifer Government, you know. I guess I will leave it at that.

That is kind of what Max Barry had in mind when he wrote Jennifer Government, you know. I guess I will leave it at that.

I know I read the book, I just wanted to see if someone on this forum would have actually liked the idea of the world being one giant college of corporations...alas a devout fan of the book has shut down my argument for the sake of an argument...oh well...wanna get high?

I was in the "Save the Internet from the corporations thread and this got me thinking...



If a corporation is a legal person, can it run for office??? :confused:

could you elect Coke or Microsoft or Monsanto or Nike into government...or am I totally wrong?

Language changes over time, and people are quick to exploit the confusion. Quicker than the changes in language. A good example would be the word "regulate." When the Framers wrote the Constitution the word meant "to make regular." So Congress having the power to "regulate" trade meant that they were charged with making sure that a pound of wheat in Western Pennsylvania weighed the same as a pound of wheat in Eastern New York. They were not empowered to prohibit the farming of wheat, hemp, or any other crop. Just to make sure that the trade of it was "regular."

Also at the time the word used to refer to people was "men." A "person" was a legal entity. Not exactly synonymous with "human." A corporation is a legal entity, and in that sense a person. But clearly not a human. Confusion over the word has led to corporations and humans being given many of the same rights. In most cases the people who favor this arrangement do so not because they believe that the two deserve equal treatment. It's just corrupt self-interest.