[Byron100]

Notice I phrased this as a statement, as opposed to a question. Corporations are an entity, which have no rights, as opposed to living human beings with natural, unalterable rights.

And yet, we've allowed our government to allow corporations to have "rights"...the right to infringe upon our own rights as individuals. Ever heard of free speech in the work place? Neither have I. Every time someone goes to work in a corporation, they are forced to leave the Bill of Rights at the front door, not to regain it until their departure (and sometimes not even then). And we've given corporations the "right" to pillage and plunder the earth in the name of profit, not to mention confiscating the labors of people working for them in exchange for "compensation", which is invariably a fraction of what that person has produced for his/her corporate masters. Not to mention such atrocities such as "Terminator Seed Technology"...

I think it's high time that we put the concept of "corporation" back in the Pandora's Box from which it came, and take back which belongs to us. The sooner we rape and eviscerate these nasty, evil, thieving "entities", the better off all of us are going to be...

[Bas]

Interesting points, Byron. I'm not sure what to think of it at this point though but it's definately worth some more discussing, even if it was only on a philosophical basis..

... also you forgot to mention that corporations have politicians on their pay role in "some" "democratic" nations...

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Byron100', 'I') think it's high time that we put the concept of "corporation" back in the Pandora's Box from which it came

[DavidFolks]

As with many things that have evolved or mutated over time, corporations were, and in many cases still are, a good idea.

As a legal entity, a corporation can outlive its founders, and continue to perform for years.

Theoretically, a corporation has to operate under the same laws as any other citizen. If you want to hold them to account, go after the lawyers. (Another thing that was a good idea at the time....)

[dbruning]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')orporations and Guilds (unions) were invented in the middle ages as mechanisms to allow common people to compete with the landed gentry on the basis of their skills and talents. Do you want to go to back to feudalism?

[Denny]

Corporatons are strictly creatures of law, not nature, they are artificial persons. Hence, they have no real "rights". But, it masy well be a good thing to endow them with legal protections and guarantees of fairness from expropriation, etc.

One current trend that concerns me with international competitiveness is that we now see many trans-national corporations devouring up smaller ones. Particularly this past two years, in metals and minerals. Just look at BHP Billeton, Freeport McMoran, and Rio Tinto, for instance. What good does it do a country to have anti-monopoly laws inside when these multi-nationals control the market place?

[jboogy]

PlantainG says
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')orporations and Guilds (unions) were invented in the middle ages as mechanisms to allow common people to compete with the landed gentry on the basis of their skills and talents. Do you want to go to back to feudalism?

[bodigami]

Corporations need to be rethinked.

The CEOs make too much money compared to workers.
The context is one of total disregard for nature.
It's corporations interests against everything else (including consumers and society).

[Plantagenet]

As usual ol' jbooger is having delusions.

Back in the real world the facts are clear:

"The alleged oldest commercial corporation in the world, the Stora Kopparberg mining community in Falun, Sweden, obtained a charter from King Magnus Eriksson in 1347."

The medieval corporations engaged in businesses like trading or manufacture or mining. They were typically either run by commoners, or allowed commoners to interact on an equal playing field with noblemen. The invention of corporations was fundamental to the creation of a new middle class of skilled tradespeople and craftspeople through their creation of entirely new industries. The wealthy city of Ghent, for instance, featured corporations that manufactured cloth and trading corporations that sold it to France, Britain, and other areas. The corporations provided a means by which commoners could achieve a comfortable life and even wealth.....something that had been unthinkable in the feudal society of early medieval Europe for anyone except the nobles.

[jboogy]

What are your sources ? I couldn't find anything like what your describing and I looked . You didn't perchance happen to find your history in the " Limbaugh and Forbes history of capitalism as we see it " bedside referance manual , did you? I wouldn't put too much faith in that text if I were you . You do know Rush is a hardcore synthetic heroin junky don't you ? And I've heard Forbes is borderline mentally retarded . Not the best sources Plantain. But to each his own I always say . If you want to worship at that alter be my guest . Here's two REFERANCED sources I found.

The first corporations appeared in 17th-century Europe, during capitalism's infancy. At the time, the government chartered all corporations-that is, it gave them a specific public mission in exchange for the formal right to exist. The United States was settled by one such corporation, the Massachusetts Bay Company, which King Charles I chartered in 1628 in order to colonize the New World. The practice of chartering companies was a crucial part of the mercantile economic system practiced by the epoch's great powers-Holland, Spain and England. By allowing investors to pool their capital, the monarch made it possible for companies to launch ventures that would have been beyond the means of one person. And in exchange for the charter, companies expanded their government's wealth and power by creating colonies that served both as sources of raw materials and as markets for exported goods.-------Joel Bleifuss


THE FIRST CORPORATIONS

Prior to the 17th century, the first corporations were created in Europe as not-for-profit entities to build institutions, such as hospitals and universities, for the public good. They had constitutions detailing their duties overseen by the government. Straying outside these was punishable by law.

COLONIAL COMPANIES

Only in the 17th century did making money become a major focus for corporations. Their wealth was used to finance European colonial expansion. Companies were used by the imperial powers to maintain draconian control of trade, resources and territory in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Advertisement
First in an ignoble line was the East India Company, set up by British merchant adventurers and granted the Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1600. Partners combined their personal stock, turning it into company stock to create the world's first commercial corporation-----New internationalist

[max_power29]

http://www.thecorporation.com/

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'P')rior to the 17th century, the first corporations were created in Europe as not-for-profit entities to build institutions, such as hospitals and universities, for the public good. -----New internationalist

[Plantagenet]

The merchant associations of the Hanseatic League are another form of medieval corporation. Merchants bought and sold their shares in trading ventures. Branch offices and retail stores of competing trading companies were set up in the port areas of cities across northern Europe and around the Baltic, much like department stores would opened up today. These buildings built by the different companies are preserved in many places....I visited the Hanseatic period buildings in Bergen, Norway a few years ago.

[TBroedsgaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Byron100', 'a')s opposed to living human beings with natural, unalterable rights.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TBroedsgaard', 'W')hat? Human beings have natural, unalterable rights?

[TBroedsgaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TBroedsgaard', 'W')hat? Human beings have natural, unalterable rights?

[Plantagenet]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

--U.S. Declaration of Independence

[Kingcoal]

Employees have no rights either. Is an employee a person? Using the definitions given here, an employee is no more a person than a corporation. An employee is a designation given to someone who signs an agreement in exchange for compensation. Being free means you have the unlimited right to contract. Unlimited means unlimited. If you sign an employment agreement which states that agree to follow the rules of the workplace, whatever those rules may be and you recieve compensation, you have to follow the rules, or quit. The employer can't make rules which violate the law, but they can restrict expression, after all, you are there to work for them, they are paying you for that.

I recommend to everyone that they go freelance. You get to make up your own rules then.

[TBroedsgaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'W')e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

--U.S. Declaration of Independence

[Specop_007]

What rights do corporations have that you do not?
What rights do corporations have that infringe on yours?