Darryl Smith”s letter on Jan. 26, was a well-meaning defense of Freedom of Speech — a matter near and dear to my heart. However, it fails to account for several realities and while he may be seduced too far to see the truth of it, I can hopefully inoculate others from this corporate, echo chamber thinking.
He states: “Corporations are owned by people, the investors, who have as much right as anyone else to have their interests expressed.”
Well that”s 100 percent true. And those people can and should express themselves.
The corporation they own however, is not a person and should have no inalienable rights except those granted by their creator, which is the state.
The belief that corporations require or are entitled to the inalienable rights “granted by our creator,” is sheer lunacy, yet pervades the thinking of many, either because of their law background or corporate media inculcation.
Remember that four of our nine Supreme Court Justices did not agree with either the concept that corporations are people (except as a convenient legal fiction) and that money equals speech — neither is necessary for corporations to conduct business.
A for-profit corporation”s only responsibility, under our laws, is to make a profit for and be honest with their share holders — period.
They are often more international entities without any real allegiances and they can live forever and amass fortunes beyond measure. To think that we would have a fair democratic system and a government of, by and for “the People,” under conditions that allow limitless expenditure to sway our electorate by artificial entities with no ethos beyond profit, is to live in a fantasy land.
By the way, more than 46 percent of all stock value is owned by less than 1 percent of the population and no one in the lower 99 percent has controlling interest in any major corporation (though some foreign nationals do).
If you think corporate boards of directors will support legislation or buy candidates that reflect true human values; well — turn off your TV!
Tim Williams
Lake County
