Unequal Protection

by Thom Hartmann

Published 29 May 2003
Corporations rule the world, claims Thom Hartmann, and they are despoiling it for profit. He traces the historical friction between individual rights and the corporation, culminating in a landmark 1886 court case. Since then corporations have steadily acquired power, shifted an unfair share of the tax burden, taken control of the media, and co-opted the regulatory process for their own purposes, according to Hartmann. Hartmann cites examples of the absurd and frightening power: sterile streams and undrinkable water, poisonous neighbourhoods, deathtrap trucks for an extra USD2 in profit. To end the abuses, Hartmann calls for a grassroots revolution He says it's time to understand the true costs of our consumerist society, take back the government and shift to a values-based economy. Pre-drafted legal templates encourage individuals to begin work at the local level.