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A Modest Plan for Taking Back Our Democracy from Moneyed Interests |
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by Mark
Email: ivryky (nospam) icqmail.com (unverified!) |
17 Feb 2001
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A Modest Plan for Taking Back Our Democracy from Moneyed Interests.
Version 1.0
While the United States Constitution was a brilliant document, it has begun to show its age. Our founding fathers could not have envisioned the technological and social changes that would take place over the next two centuries and the consequences that would result. In keeping with \"loose constructionist\" tradition, the Constitution is a living document that must be updated to keep pace with the times.
The following document, while not a comprehensive plan by any means, nonetheless can serve as a starting point for renewing the freedom and justice that this nation (and the rest of the world) so desperately needs.
Article One: Corporate Power
Corporate conglomerations, through rulings by various courts, have attained the rights of the individual citizen while not the responsibilities. For example, a corporation is assumed to have the right to freedom of speech, while it may require an employee to give up that right in a contract as a condition of employment. On the other hand, if a corporation is involved in illegality, instead of the entire corporate entity being held responsible, an individual employee will generally be blamed and strapped with the consequences.
It is clear that the individual has much less power than a corporation, less money, less access to governmental and judicial resources. Also, a corporate entity has no conscience, no sense of right and wrong. For a corporation to receive equal treatment under law the same as an individual citizen has led to many societal wrongs and must be stopped.
With that in mind, we need to pass laws and elect judges that will fundamentally change the landscape of power. Corporations should no longer have the protection of the Bill of Rights, and they should be held to strict accountability standards that are clearly in the public eye and in the public interest. Eventually, the corporate entity should be so diluted that it returns to what it was originally, a public organization that exists to benefit the common good, and that is accountable to the public interest at all times. The concentration of power in the hands of the few must be ended.
Article Two: Clean Government
Certainly the need to end our \"Government for Hire\" is obvious. What we have now is nothing more than legalized bribery, plain and simple. Many moneyed interests, including the Supreme Court, have upheld this bribery as \"free speech\" with an argument that is pure sophistry. Until our elected officials are not beholden to the bribes they receive, at all levels of government, we will never have \"government for and by the people.\" This would include an end to lobbying and corporate influence peddling, and strict conflict of interest laws. For instance, under a Clean Government system, we would not have a \"President\" who makes decisions about energy policy that in effect favor the anti-public interest agenda of his contributors.
Article Three: Law Enforcement Reform
The current regime of \"cowboy cops\" would be reformed. Many agencies operate as businesses, seizing assets to further the financial goals of their own organization (that new helicopter, for example) rather than the pursuit of justice. Search and seizure laws would be brought into compliance with the Constitution, and the killing of innocents would be akin to manslaughter.
Prosecutors would be under strict supervision to find the guilty, rather than punish the accused at all costs. Everyone would have access to the best legal counsel, regardless of wealth. And of course, the death penalty would be abolished, along with the practice of eliminating jurors who would oppose the death penalty.
This reform would apply to the military and covert operations as well. No longer would we interfere in the affairs of other nations by attempting to overthrow governments, and no longer would we engage in activities like Vietnam, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and now Columbia.
Article Four: Elimination of the PR industry
Perhaps the biggest threat to social justice is the public relations industry. For years, they have been working behind the scenes to skew the truth and mold public opinion. This \"invisible hand\" is at odds with the principles of democracy, is underhanded and immoral, and should be stamped out through strict disclosure laws and regulation.
Article Five: Justice and the Public Interest
We cannot continue to go after the poor for crimes when we ignore the rich. Every effort will be made to eliminate poverty and the crime that results. White collar crime will be pursued at a greater level. Those in power who make decisions that result in harm to others will be punished. For example, top Firestone executives would be in jail now for the deaths they have caused by attempting to cover up their defective product. Corporate polluters and government accomplices would be held responsible for the damage they cause to people\'s lives. Corporations that target children through advertising would be held to the same standard as an individual who attempted to coerce a child. And the five members of the Supreme Court who were in the majority in Bush vs. Gore would be on trial for treason because of their nonsensical legal arguments and conflicts of interest.
Article Six: Individual Freedom
While the first four articles will be attacked by some as being \"anti-freedom\" or \"too much regulation,\" that is simply wrong. These principles serve to enhance individual freedom by liberating the individual from the tyranny of organized private interests. While government is seen by some as evil, it is in reality supposed to serve the public good and be accountable to the people. While this may not always be the case, certainly the possibility is there, while it is not there at all with private interests.
Article Seven: Non violence and peaceful change
We all should value the generally peaceful society we live in, even though there are many private interests that seek to undermine it. If we accomplish these ideals while sacrificing the ideals of tolerance, respect, and peaceful co-existence, then we have gained nothing.
Please feel free to send your comments for consideration in the next update of this document, and spread the word. When people realize that they are being sold short by the corporate media and the unbridled corporate free market, and being fooled by PR propaganda, they will certainly want to see change for the better.
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