Restoring Citizen Authority over Corporations
Soon, Amazon customers will finally pay sales tax. While that may seem to be a victory against Amazon’s aggressive rent-seeking, it isn’t. The company is accepting the taxes on its terms. In fact, the national law compelling Amazon to pay sales tax will help it save money as it builds warehouses.
Wired.com recently posted an amusing article about a man who sold shares in himself in exchange for a cut of his future earnings and the right to make decisions about his life. The consequences shed light on problems of our system of corporate ownership, problems which are otherwise difficult to see.
For years, legislators have avoided prosecuting some big banks for their crimes, fearing that, thanks to their size, doing so would disrupt the economy. Recently, however, momentum is building in Washington toward reforming the banks.
Even as the federal government executes major cutbacks, it’s giving huge subsidies in the form of tax breaks to industry, a fact legislators rarely acknowledge. The Boston Globe recently published a thorough and eye-popping report detailing the nature and extent of these breaks. A must-read.
The biggest problems often seem less like problems and more like unavoidable features of reality – their permanence and ubiquity make them invisible. In her new book, Owning Our Future, Marjorie Kelly argues we now face a problem of this kind: ownership of corporations. We love this book.
As shameful as the Citizens United decision is, we must confront the sobering reality that it is only the tip of the iceberg. A small ruling elite (often succinctly described as the 1%) have stolen control of the country, and they are ruling over us.
We see this question often and it catches our eye, because it suggests a misunderstanding: Citizens United is more of a what than a who – two different whats, in fact. It’s a PAC in Washington DC, and it’s a Supreme Court case which has changed how corporations and unions can spend money on elections.
