Super-Individuals

Tom has a post on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):
http://whatpowderfingersaid.blogspot.com/2014/04/more-on-tpp.html

Bottom line is plain to see. Another gigantic boondoggle for rapacious, out-of-control capitalism, which, as is becoming increasingly apparent, will be the death of us all.

Corporations are becoming too mighty, indeed, for they take on the characteristics of individuals, but do so on a scale that beggars our individual imaginations.

Looking into Wikipedia:

In criminal law, corporate liability determines the extent to which a corporation as a legal person can be liable for the acts and omissions of the natural persons it employs.

and

To have legal personality means to be capable of having legal rights and duties within a certain legal system, such as to enter into contracts, sue, and be sued. Legal personality is a prerequisite to legal capacity, the ability of any legal person to amend (enter into, transfer, etc.) rights and obligations. In international law, consequently, legal personality is a prerequisite for an international organization to be able to sign international treaties in its own name.

Legal persons (lat. persona iuris) are of two kinds: natural persons – people – and juridical persons (also called juristic or artificial or fictitious persons, lat. persona ficta) – groups of people, such as corporations, which are treated by law as if they were persons. While people acquire legal personhood when they are born, judicial persons do so when they are incorporated in accordance with law.

 One of the most important reasons that corporations were regarded as legal person(alities) is the need to limit the liability of the shareholders who provided the original capital of the corporation.
If each shareholder were responsible to the fullest extent of the law when an accident occurred, no person in their right minds would provide capital to fund a corporate endeavor.

Back in the old days, no people would have provided funds for ships, if a shipwreck meant that those who were part of the joint stock company were all liable for the deaths of the crew members.

But now this legal personage has become a Super-Individual.

The concept of the legal personality of a corporation was strictly limited to business matters. This modern day straining of the concept of personhood to grosser issues - such as freedom of speech and the ability to contribute to political campaigns - is a laughable measure, if it were not so pernicious.
When a corporation has the right to freedom of speech, it speaks with millions of dollars behind it, and its voice can easily drown my voice out.

If we permit the Supreme Court to continue along this bizarre path, shall we see corporations all grasp the right to keep and bear arms? If it is to protect themselves... or to stand their ground.... why not? I bet some Republicans in Georgia are working on it now.

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