The Corporate Government

Dr. Ross McCluney expounds on the role of the corporation and how it has been bestowed with non-existant rights. "Corporations are chartered by government and exist at the pleasure of government. Large corporations today, however, have begun to operate largely as if they were independent entities. This has led to a variety of environmental and other excesses. Government has generally been unwilling or unable to step in and exert the proper regulatory role over corporations in many such matters, in spite of powers to exert such control provided to a variety of governmental regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Commission, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."

"Over a period of time, corporations have even started claiming rights under the U.S. Constitution, thereby asserting that they can be treated legally as if they were people. This doctrine of “corporate person-hood” was introduced not in the Constitution or any of its amendments but by a series of assertions by attorneys, the corporations themselves. Many courts have gone along, so that the “doctrine” has seemed to take on a valid legal status. However, corporations are not people and cannot claim constitutional rights reserved for human individuals." Excerpt, Chpt 7, Getting Down to Business, "Humanity’s Environmental Future," Dr. Ross McCluney, 2004.

More on this subject from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund: http://www.celdf.org/ Unfortunately, in many places, to include Alabama, the corporation has been given rights to include the "right" to receive large amounts of tax money through corporate subsidies. The people of this area seem very willing to give up their individual rights and replace them with Corporate Rule.