Need to separate corporations from state
Close examination of the separation of church and state, as seen by the Founding Fathers, reveals that, while they revered faithfulness to God as a positive character trait they clearly rejected involvement of the corporate “church” in the sphere of the people’s government.
They rightfully viewed the “church” as a corporation with, among other purposes, the purpose of power; to protect and expand itself as well as to exert influence on the political environment of its faithful and, thus, to further influence those outside its sphere of devotees.
The colonial leaders recognized that corporate churches would exert pressures on their developing government and their colonist’s history warned against such entanglement. This could account for the early limitations on incorporation for commerce.
Only by acts of legislatures and under laws heavily focused on public interest were corporations formed in early U.S. history. Thus, Rockefeller set up Standard Oil as a trust and Carnegie set up his steel operation as a limited partnership.
Today, federal, state and local governments profit from the current, more liberal incorporation laws and, most important, no longer are corporations held to standards focused on public interest.
A dichotomy balanced by wealth and need and, if unregulated, ripe for the dereliction of public well-being.
It is time for today’s leaders to separate modern corporations from state. To begin, they must establish a constitutional amendment to clarify the rights intended for “natural” people versus “abstract” people, which the Citizens United Supreme Court decision confused. Then, establish a commission charged with legal guidance for corporations to assure protection of public interests and to rebalance the power scale, currently weighted to sustain a government by corporations for corporations.
Societies change, so must its laws. Revolutions occur when governments ignore citizens’ concerns.
It is time to separate modern corporations from state.
Gail Talbot
Huntley