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The point that's being missed in this discussion is that corporations are abstract entities defined by the state and society, ideally for society's benefit (otherwise why the hell would or should they exist, and also the original corp was for public benefit). These abstract entities can be given attributes, rights, relationships, etc. as needed, but they do not have any inherent properties in and of themselves.

Corporate personhood is an analogy, and a poor one at that. Many of the properties we assign to personhood are not suitable for corporations.




I dunno what gives you the impression that I've missed that point, really, but the scope of your message, which comes across to me as "perhaps we could slightly restructure the rights and responsibilities of corporations to better fit what we see as their role in society" is dramatically different from "Corporate Personhood is such a horrible idea that it just doesn't make any sense at all."

Both statements are equally true, as is my rebuttal. We perhaps could reframe the rights of corporations, but abolishing personhood would likely make the situation far worse than it makes anything better, as we then lose the ability to enter contracts with or sue corporations.

Much of the abilities of corporations that stem from personhood are commensurate with their other roles. I personally don't see a problem with corporations having representation, as those same corporations are otherwise bound by the laws of the land. Despite the "Wal-Mart is not a person" rhetoric, it's worth noting that many corporations are sole proprietorships, or, rephrased, people, and if they have the responsibility of obeying the whimsy of the legislature in the myriad regulations they are responsible to perform (worth noting, corporate responsibilities are typically far more burdensome than personal responsibilities) that they have the right to speak out against that whimsy where they wish.

That isn't to suggest that my word is definite, and there's definitely wiggle room to restructure, but as it stands, corporations have burdens, and knee jerk responses neither obviate nor necessarily better the proportionality of their rights in response to those burdens. Ut totum, abolishing personhood is, I think, as horrible an idea as mandatory mediation.




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