The novel, which my cousin from the big city of Madras had loaned me, was set in an America of chaos and violence, and a near breakdown of law and order. The answer to this was going to be a constitutional amendment that would suspend the first ten amendments to the Constitution--the Bill of Rights. And, of course, there is a much deeper conspiracy driving all these, and one of the conspirators is an all powerful multinational corporation, "Supranat Co." (at least, this is how much I recall from memory, which is fading by the day!)
Fast forward a few years, and I was among the audience at USC to listen to Ralph Nader who was critiquing the powerful rights that the government and the Supreme Court had awarded to corporations. Nader was worried that scheming corporations will subvert civics and the Constitution.
Over the years, I have had my own love-hate relationship with mega corporations. The one thing I know for sure that I hate is their ability to participate in elections. If democracy is for, of, and by the people, only humans can participate in governance. Yet, time and again, the Court re-affirms corporations as individuals, which is one hell of a screw-up. Now, after reading this interview with Joseph Stiglitz, who is no dunce, I am really, really concerned:
"Corporations are a legal entity," Stiglitz explained. "We create them. And when we create them we create all kinds of rules. They can go bankrupt. And that means they owe more money and they get away scot-free. They can create an environmental disaster, and then go bankrupt and again go away scot-free. So, as legal entities we have the right to make the rules that govern them."
"As individuals we have certain basic rights," Stiglitz continued. "We aren't created by the law. We exist by nature. But corporations are man-made. They are supposed to serve our interest, our society's interests. And we are creating them with powers that are not serving our society's interests."
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