Was the Boston Tea Party the first WTO-style protest against transnational corporations? Did Supreme Court sell out America's citizens in the nineteenth century, with consequences lasting to this day? Is there a way for American citizens to recover democracy of, by, and for the people?
Thom Hartmann takes on these most difficult questions and tells a startling story that will forever change your understanding of American history. Amongst a deep historical context, Hartmann the describes the history of the Fourteenth Amendment--created at the end of the Civil War to grant basic rights to freed slaves--and how it has been used by lawyers representing corporate interests to extend additional rights to businesses far more frequently than to freed slaves. Prior to 1886, corporations were referred to in U.S. law as "artificial persons." But in 1886, after a series of cases brought by lawyers representing the expanding railroad interests, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were "persons" and entitled to the same rights granted to people under the Bill of Rights. Since this ruling, America has lost the legal structures that allowed for people to control corporate behavior.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
National radio host THOM HARTMANN is the award-winning, best-selling author of fourteen books currently in print in more than a dozen languages on four continents. Hartmann is also an entrepreneur, an internationally known speaker on culture and communications, and an innovator in the fields of psychiatry, ecology, and economics. The former executive director of a residential treatment program for emotionally disturbed and abused children, he has helped set up hospitals, schools, famine relief programs, and communities for orphaned or blind children in India, Africa, Australia, South America, Europe, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Thom is the host of a wildly popular national radio program on the Dial-Global network, which is broadcast during radio prime time on stations from coast-to-coast and on satellite radio. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Louise. You can find him on the Web at www.thomhartmann.com.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1886 Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad To Present,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights (Paperback)
Thom Hartmann's brilliantly plain spoken account reminiscing the history of corporate ' personhood' in the imfamous SCOTUS 1886 account : Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad , brings that thread into the present explaining how the general conditions of inequality between humans and the world of corporations has come to be extrapolating that they have received personhood through the said case . Consider that the modern corporation is not particularly subjected to equal penalties for criminal offences as you and I may be. Corporations hold sway over not only the decision making processes of our elected officials but even indirectly over us as well. For example; international laws enacted by the WTO essentially illegalize fair trade and national tariffs , allowing for production of goods be made at the lowest wage, cost and quality possible ,is considered 'doing a profitable business ' . Records of industrial by-products and emmisions are legally protected from scrutiny . This of course is what we see happening now with the commons being exploited while our unalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is being sytematically dismantled by relentless censorship , and restraints , the erosion of our peace . Motivated by selfish interests shareholder gains ad priori, does not reqiure a concern for the good of society be included in the equation. Hartmann in no way implies anti- Capitalism / Corporate views , a founder of more than a few himself , but rather due to the lack of prudence and oversight, rampant desires for profit outweigh common sense and just intent .
I highly recommend this book for it's ease of reading and clarification of an important stage in American history that has been blurred and watered down by the predominantly manipulated sources of media we've come to rely on for real information . That once proud estate has failed so miserably in the task of reporting the news, not holding high the banner of dedication and honor the 1st Amendment deserves in principle that a free press = an informed citizenry. Kudos Tom Hartmann , a person deeply concerned for the welfare of this country and his fellow man, just as the Founders had intended it to be.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unequal ... and alarming,
By crabapple "crabapple" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights (Paperback)
I saw Thomas Hartman being interviewed on CSPAN and, as always went right to Amazon to purchase it. The subject makes for very dry reading and I would rather be reading a novel. But, this is too important a subject to not be informed about. With the recent Supreme Court ruling favoring Corporations over personal rights, it is very topical. Thomas Hartman clearly lays out an historical time line and simply explains the earliest organizations of people for survival and finally commerce; the "commons" and how the "commons" has been misinterpreted over time. He shows the mental wrestling the US Founding Fathers had with their fear of the rise and dominance of "Big Corporations" , now realized, and the erosion of civil rights in favor of big business. It's worth a read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The history we did not learn in school,
By Max Salinas, PhD (Florida) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights (Paperback)
Hartmann provides a perspective on the forces that led to the founding of the United States that is richer than the traditional views. As we look back over the history of the US, I would suspect that the Founding Fathers would not recognize the nation they set in motion. According to Hartmann, protection of the individual from the effectively limitless powers of non-human corporations was a keystone on which the Founding Fathers did agree, even if their recommended methods may have differed. Unfortunately, our fundamental lack of interest or understanding of American history has led to our inability to properly maintain the safeguards that provided those protections. Despite its problems, the uniqueness and the greatness of the American Experiment comes through loud and clear in this book, and it is a must read for anyone who wants to or needs to be reminded of that.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
