Funny Money

 

Still today, the Supreme Court has yet to overturn the Citizens United ruling that Corporations are people, though some municipalities have denied it’s validity with their own legislation.

My previous post on the Citizens United rulling here.

To further support why Corporations are NOT people and why they should NOT have the same benefits or protections as people comes down to the need and use of money. As they say, follow the money…

Earning money in this world is done by both corporations and people, money rules are universal. For corporations it is called income and it is offset by expenses to run their business. Earning more than your expenses means profit. People earn income and it’s offset by expenses to survive. Earning more than your expenses means savings. The important contextual difference comes from the free-will and choice of existing. People have to eat, have shelter, and wear clothes. The choice people make is earn money or die. Corporations have only self imposed expenses, earn money or die but there is no funeral.

There is no doubt the US government has gone out of its way to give financial protections to corporations while leaving its people vulnerable. If Americans have an effective minimum wage, why isn’t a 5% annual increase built in to it? Most workers see a cost of living rise in their pay, why wouldn’t the lowest among us see it as well? If Americans have an effective social safety net why are so many hungry, sick and uncared for? If people come together to govern their society as individuals, why are we allowing this government to ignore us as individuals? Corporations are groups of individuals, who come together to do something they agreed on. If corporations need help from the government, perhaps they shouldn’t be doing whatever they can’t seem to do on their own.

When Americans do not survive because of unmet basic human needs, it is a serious crime and government officials should be ashamed.

When a business dies, it is capitalism at work. It is the risk a corporation knowingly and alienably takes, so blame only the captain who let his ship run aground.

If I were a lawyer, I’d sue the Supreme Court and Congress for writing laws that violate existing laws and break the tenants of our contract. It would be the biggest class action in history.

Government Responsibility and Corporations

      The Supreme Court has lost its mind. It just goes to show that lawyers get wrapped up in legalese and manmade construct to the point of loss of contact with reality. Corporations are not people.

Here’s a little Wikipedia history of corporations for some larger perspective.

“The word “corporation” derives from corpus, the Latin word for body, or a “body of people”. Entities which carried on business and were the subjects of legal rights were found in ancient (world)… In medieval Europe, churches became incorporated, as did local governments, such as …. The point was that the incorporation would survive longer than the lives of any particular member, existing in perpetuity. The alleged oldest commercial corporation in the world, the Stora Kopparberg mining community in Falun, Sweden, obtained a charter from King Magnus Eriksson in 1347. Many European nations chartered corporations to lead colonial ventures, such as the Dutch East India Company or the Hudson’s Bay Company, and these corporations came to play a large part in the history of corporate colonialism.”-Wikipedia

 I understand the usefulness of incorporation for capital/societal reasons. Millions of small and big businesses, non-profits and municipal corporations exist, as a legal structure fully alienable if so agreed by all shareholders. Our government is in a very real way, an acting corporation of the people. This issue is legally circular in a very mind dizzying way.  The big, very important issue for me is the difference between humans and corporations, in that corps might not die off as ALL humans are certain to.  Every generation should have their shot at molding and influence in politics, while not being railroaded by giant dinosaur corps with deep pockets, ah hem. Federal Courts are obligated to put individuals at the base of context in our group system. Constitutionally, individuals are the shareholder of the government, not corporations! Since corporations previous to this ruling legally lobbied our Representatives, I say they now have inordinate power in the political arena. Our tax dollars are pooled for the needs of the state in fulfilling the societal needs of its individuals and not for the financial gain of the corporations created by groups of individuals. In addition we need clearer political and business separation in conflict of interest laws and ethics. Corporations are created within the structure of law and they are certainly alienable (for sale). Individuals however, have unalienable and inalienable rights. We must protect our individual selves at all costs and reverse this Supreme Court decision.

Government Responsibility…needs and wants

        In the world today we have a complete failure of economics because the US has been scamming the world and selling worthless paper. Blame wall street, the banks, the SEC, home flippers, agents and the various other players in a financial game that went unchecked and unguarded because the perceived risk did not outweigh the reward. (It never does) Lots of people made lots of money while we had a lack of oversight. Now taxpayers have to foot the bill for their extravagance. The government has tough choices to make, always will. Market forces should be allowed to play out as they will, government cannot force confidence back in on the system. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me! They have bitten the hand that fed them, we will be far more skeptical now, than ever. No amount of government money tossed to these wasteful greedy corporations will make people invest with them. Ever. Trust is lost.  Tangible things like gold become favored over “papers or notes” for investing. People come to value other things.

When the government proclaims they prefer that Americans pay their mortgages and reduce debts and save money, and in the same breath allows this leeching of the nations economics system happen… how dare they approach taxpayers asking to give even more money to the same groups who sucked up all their other money the first time around and still failed to provide stability for themselves or their customers. No one forced these companies to exist; they took up their business with full knowledge of the work they intended on doing. Unfortunately the last administration was asleep at the wheel and loads of bad “things” happened. Most unfortunate was the loss of consumer protections. Triple A rating, really? Beyond this segment, consumer protections in loans and credit have vanished. Until the laws change to protect the consumer, we as consumers are foolish to do business or hold assets with them. People can survive without money, trade and barter become efficient transactions whose benefits include connections amongst the community. The government should get out of the business of banking and get into the business of regulation.

The three basic tenants of our government are the people’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life is clearly the basics you learned about in grade school. Liberty is freedom and a tolerance for peoples wants. The Pursuit of Happiness is love, everyone has a right to love and be loved. The first word is LIFE because without life- liberty and happiness are mute. Currently money is washed all over government budgets in some areas that seem ill chosen and frivolous. The government should protect the people’s needs as the foundation of their relationship and only support the peoples wants as it can afford. In other words, taxpayer money spent on a marine research outpost or new skate park should only be spent if the people’s basic needs are being met. LIFE boils down to affordable food and water, affordable shelter and affordable medical access. Let’s start there! You could make a case for all sorts of other needs (like education, art, energy etc); I am talking strictly biological life needs. I am not advocating that the government should be responsible to keep all its citizens alive, they should, however be making sure that the market place provides AFFORDABLE access to life’s basics as well as support and care for the old & young who have no one to care for them. That seems reasonable to me. And these should be the only items considered for stimulus. Any other “need” is ill timed. This is not a Mardi gras cash party, it is a survivalist workshop, get it straight please!

Governments are put together for, by and of the people. Yes we are in fact a republic, but a democratic one. Public opinion has always swayed the powers that be, but I don’t know that our government really understands what has happened or how we feel. Do they really understand the anger created from this gross preventable failure? Are we not shamed on the world stage? I hope the DC machine of it all does not keep Obama from seeing what the real truth is in the whole of the country. I have to say I am scared about Tim G. in the treasury, I think his interest is conflicted.