By John Wund / Chronicle contributor
“We meet in … a nation brought to the verge of moral, political and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot-box... The people are demoralized; ... public opinion silenced... homes covered with mortgages, labor impoverished, and the land concentrating in the hands of capitalists. …workmen are denied the right to organize…, imported pauperized labor beats down (our) wages.... The fruits of the toils of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a few, unprecedented in the history of mankind...” These seemingly contemporary words come from the preamble of the Populist Party platform, released on July 4, 1892.
At the time of the American Revolution, most powerful corporations were thrown out of the country. From 1776 until the Civil War, corporations were treated as artificial entities chartered and controlled by the states (except the Post Office). During the Civil War, however, profiteering capitalists (in particular, railroad tycoons) were able to accumulate great piles of money. After the war ended, this money was put to work corrupting government and buying judicial influence.
It seemed clear to the Constitution-signers that “We the People” were flesh and blood. The 14 amendment was drafted and ratified with the intent of giving former slaves citizenship rights, but in 1886, a corporate lawyer-packed Supreme Court issued a preliminary letter (Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific RR) stating that the word “person” in the Amendment meant corporations as well as former slaves (although it did not mean “women,” who SCOTUS wouldn’t consider persons until 1971!).
In 1889, the Court produced a formal decision (Railroads vs. Beckwith) stating corporations were persons for due process and equal protection, and in 1893 (Noble vs. Union River), more than 100 years after the Constitution was ratified, the Supreme Court first ruled that corporations had Bill of Rights protections.
Recognizing the absurdity of these rulings, the Populist Party arose to challenge the power of the corporations and issued nine resolutions, including the promotion of fair elections by secret ballot, direct election of Senators, the abolition of private corporate armies (the Pinkertons), and opposition to, “...any subsidy or national aid to any private corporation for any purpose.”
It has been said that slavery was the legal fiction that a person is property, and corporate-personhood is the legal fiction that property is a person. Many Populist goals came to pass, but the march of plutocrat-controlled giant corporations was only slowed. Although slavery is now illegal, we are still saddled not only with corporate-personhood but the equally ridiculous notion that “money is speech.” Owners of giant corporations maintain extraordinary control over our information and our government.
Not all teabaggers shouting “I want my country back!” are racists or supporters of a theocracy. Some simply resent corporation-bought government controlling their lives. This latter group should resist being jerked around by Rupert Murdoch, become politically active and either kick corporate influences out of their traditional political party or help form a new, corporate-free third party. Only then can they pass a Constitutional Amendment which strips away corporate-personhood and the money-is-speech nonsense.
This may be impossibly difficult, since our plutocratic rulers can usually use money and front organizations to, in the words of railroad robber baron Jay Gould, “hire (or incite) one half of the working class to kill the other half,” but the only remaining option is to forget democracy and try to enjoy the bread and circuses.
