Some say corporations have such a strong grip on politicians and big media that it is impossible to challenge them, no matter how many of us there are.
But I believe we can do it. In the past few months, YES! Magazine has been researching ways that ordinary people can challenge corporate power (look for strategies in our spring issue, out in February). And we found that there are actually a lot of tools at our disposal:
- Corporations were created by public law to provide a public
benefit. If we the people no longer feel that a corporation is providing
a benefit -- or if we feel that it is operating in a lawless and
destructive manner -- we can revoke their charter. That's what Free Speech
for People has asked the attorney general of Delaware to do to Massey Energy,
which has been one of the worst culprits in mountaintop removal and
which has operated its mines in a lawless and negligent manner,
resulting in 29 deaths at the Upper Big Branch Mine.
- We can
insist that, in exchange for use of our public airwaves, broadcasters
provide free air-time to candidates for public office. If they don't need
to raise millions for media buys, they don't need to be as beholden to
the 1 percent.
- We can get our governments to quit banking with Bank of America and Chase, and start our own state banks -- 14 states, including California and Washington, are considering such a move. And while we're at it, we can localize food, energy, and other aspects of our economy so local, independent businesses and cooperatives can thrive.
- We can stand up to specific parts of the corporate agenda by engaging in the sort of direct action that halted the KXL Pipeline.
- We can call for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, corporate personhood, and the ridiculous notion that money is the same thing as speech. So far, Los Angeles, New York City, and about 50 other towns and cities have done this.
- We
can use mechanisms like clean elections, electoral transparency,
citizen review of legislation, and recalls to keep corporate control of
our democracy in check.
- Finally, the reason I am most hopeful today: We can take a cue from Occupy Wall Street
and continue to name the source of political corruption -- something the
political establishment and mainstream media have refused to do. We can
occupy homes that are slated for foreclosure, as people have been doing
all over the country. We can mic-check places like Walmarts that
intimidate and fire workers who want to unionize. We can set up tents in
public places and in other ways join with the Occupy movement to take a
stand for a world that works for the 100 percent -- a world where we all
benefit.
None of these actions will be easy. It will take time -- potentially
years of work -- to make big change. But just as the legitimacy of
apartheid crumbled well before the institutions of apartheid went down,
the legitimacy of corporate rule is crumbling. So I'm convinced that,
with you and me and all the others out there creating alternatives and
taking a stand, we will see change.
Cross-posted from YES! Magazine
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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