If Corporations are people why can't they be held liable for anything?

There's this idiotic movement (and stupid Supreme Court people) that demands corporations are people. I guess we're ignoring that corporations can't bleed. They don't have a heartbeat or soul. They don't have a sense of self.

If your argument is that corporations are people because they've got people inside of 'em that's just stupid too because when was the last time a corporations looked out for everyone within the corporation? Last I heard they're basically represented not by representatives of the people and not by people who were voted in via a democratic system but just random rich guys and business owners. Share owners have a limited amount of rights depending on the share of shares they own but still, can you honestly say corporations are speaking with the voice of all the share holders and people within the company? No, the only voice you'll hear is the special interests of the top people in the company to make more profits.


Now, ignoring all of this. Legally through some backwards thinking corporation constitutes a living entity and is a person. But unlike the rest of us people these corporation persons cannot seem to be held liable for anything.

What happens when they do something wrong? Well a lot of the same people who failed and caused this busted economy (much in the same way as in the 1920s but those are details for another thread) are in TOP positions in government. Those person corporations don't go to jail or get fired. They get BAILOUTS. Those CEOs who failed get multi-million dollar BONUSES.
The corporations get rewarded for stupid behavior. The failed leaders within the corporations get awarded with bonuses that will ensure they continue living the high life and are given top positions in other companies or the government (or just stick around for EZ money, win or fail).




Corporations currently have more rights and protections than any individual. They might as well be flesh and blood demigods. They have more money. They have more voice. They can donate unlimited amounts now. They can't get in trouble. They can't be drafted . They're legally superior.

Corporations have more rights than you. They're recognized as people. We might as well have segregation again. The Corporations get the front seats on the bus.

 

Excellent post. I guess the corporations would be more like people when they fail if the government was not infiltrated with corporate interests. I guess failing would be an option. Maybe we should ask the government why they don't treat the corporations more like people.

 

If a citizen fails, they get welfare, food stamps, unemployment, HUD housing, free cell-phones, all kinds of bailouts. Very similar to those corporations.

 

You can't possibly compare billions of dollars giving to corporations who then spend it on bonuses, go get top government jobs, etc to people who get the bare essentials of life.

Also the failure is much different. Most people on welfare are disabled and stuff. Did you know Reagan destroyed much of the systems that had to do with Mental Health and this basically flooded every since then our system with people who aren't really all there and can't take care of themselves.

The failures of the Corporations just cannot be compared to a disabled man or someone who's down on their luck.


If what you said was true the CEOs would be living off of foodstamps instead of buying yachts!
I want the welfare they're on! Give me millions.



Also every time there's been criminal liability it doesn't go to the corporation but to the people in the corporation or nowhere! They're literally immune to liabilities and criminal charges. If they're people then why is this?

 

Bankers failed with a guaranteed backup plan from the government, as do the citizens. I guess corporations and people do have something in common afterall. However, when a corporation fails, no one starves, IF you have the guarantee of stamps there for the laid off workers of that corporation!

In conclusion, corporations own our government and citizens are greedy as (*)(*)(*)(*) and have no idea what NEED means.

 

Actually, many people on the programs I mentioned are perfectly healthy and capable of working.

Regardless, you seem confused about corporate liability. Corporations often pay out millions in judgements and settlements where they are found liable. Every one of those commercials you see on tv talking about suing someone represents a law firm that is focused on getting settlements like those. Every time you get one of those class-action notices, it is because of one of those cases.

This happens all of the time, corporations are held liable for their actions, and often held liable for things that aren't even their fault.

 

And many people on the programs you mentioned aren't.

Your example about corporate liability is like a speeding ticking. Paying millions for the huge corporations? Easy! Paying a speeding ticket when you make $250k a year? Keep them coming! Paying a speeding ticket when you're a single mother. Ouch... I hope you can feed your kid this month.

The point is (beyond the fact that these people shouldn't be speeding) punishments work differently in different situations. $10,000,000 might sound like a LOT to most people but to many corporations it's literally a drop in the bucket.

THAT is not liability. Simply paying your way out of problems when you have, oh so much money is only an option for the superior persons called Corporations. Most people don't have that option. Most people just get the cold hand of the law down on them. Corporations pay the law away.


Seriously... your thinking is backwards. Your reasoning flawed. It's perspective. $1,000,000 is nothing to a corporation. Smoking companies have paid out MILLIONS upon MILLIONS in settlements. Guess what, it doesn't really do much to them. They still make 1000x that amount. They're still around. They just need to shift some money around and all is peachy like a peach pie.

 

Sooo...solution?

 

Its complete rule by plutocracy. Corporations were invented to remove liability from individuals to pool the wealth of many, too seperate personal liability from corporate liability.

The modern Corporation and its direct controllers (the CEO's and controlling shareholders) have all the rights of a private person and none of the liabilities when acting in the interst of the corporation. The heads of Corporations have at thier disposal the assets of thousands of people with which they can employ at thier own discretion to infuence elections. The modern Corporation is immune to to any legal repercussion it can afford to pay off monetarily. Corporations can kill through criminal negligence and simply pay a fine .. contaminate the ground water for thousands and spread disease.. simply pay a fine without admitting guilt.

Every person in America that is not part of the controlling structure of a Corporation is now a second class citizen.

 

That all depends on the judgement and the size of the corporations. There are corporations that have been crushed with lawsuits and legal fees.

Why should means be considered at all when it comes to fines or judgements? If means was considered then the destitute could commit any crime they wanted with impunity.

Everyone is supposed to be equal under the law, yet you suggest that the rich should be treated more harshly than the poor.

 

My solution is to throw the corporations who have done illegal things in jail.

However once the police and lawyers and judges realize they don't have physical bodies, are incapable of thought, don't bleed and aren't actually people the solution will be clear. Go back, erase the stupidity. Make them NOT people again.

Only people are people. Until they perfect computer AI to the level of thought and consciousness it will stay that way.


It's a freakin' joke that people are willing to accept a business as a person. If it's simply a group of people I don't see why it wouldn't apply to anything that also contains a group of people. Is a church a person? Is a union a person? They've got a LOT of people in them.

But no, those aren't a person either.

 

If an individual who in charge of a corporation makes a decision that results in the deaths of others, felony fraud.. and it can be proven that the action was made with full knowledge.. then the heads of that corporation should face criminal prosecution.. otherwise a corporation will gladley cause cancer on 1000 people and be fined 100 million dollars.. if it means that they will make 300 million from the crime. Acting the stead of a corporation should not provide immunity from the law.

 

LOL. I agree, let's go arrest the bankers who knowingly handed out loans to people who had no business getting them. And let's also arrest Clinton (who influenced lax lending policies), and Bush and Obama for bailing them out.

Free vacations for a lucky American family every week in a millionaire's beach house!

sounds like you're promoting free market principles here, long gone from American corporatist policy...