In Delaware, Corporations Can Now Vote. Are We Insane? | Common Dreams
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In the United States of America, this is what it has come to.

Seriously. Not dystopian science fiction or a new novel by an AI version of George Orwell. Actual corporations — what America’s first Supreme Court Justice, John Marshall, in 1819 called “an artificial being, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of law” — are today voting in elections for everything from the mayor and town council to referendums on corporate taxes and limits on corporate behavior.

What could possibly go wrong?

There are, after all, more corporations than people in Delaware. They can now decide who’s going to run the government, what the laws are, and — through their votes to elect humans who’ll take corporate money to do what corporations want (something else that corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court legalized) — even what regulations companies must follow and what limits there are on their behavior.

  • Cataphract@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    oh, just finished reading the “article”. It’s kinda just an ad for Hartman’s new book, this has been going on for 140 years. There was just a recent ruling upholding it is all, Reuters has the actual article. Used to listen to Hartman a lot back in the day, sad to see him using a clickbait-inaccurate title.

    Delaware court upholds voting by companies in small town’s election (actual correct article title)

    The American Civil Liberties Union ​of Delaware sued the town, arguing it violated the elections clause of the state ⁠constitution. The group sought a court order blocking Fenwick Island from counting votes by “non-human artificial entities” in future elections. Nonresident voting in local elections has been permitted ​in Fenwick Island since it was incorporated in 1953, according to the court ruling. In 2008, Delaware’s General Assembly amended ‌the charter ⁠to allow non-resident voting by artificial entities, including corporations, partnerships, trusts and limited liability companies, which must be chartered in Delaware.

    Definitely shitty situation, but wtf Thom? From his opinion article:

    Seriously. Not dystopian science fiction or a new novel by an AI version of George Orwell. Actual corporations

    From the reuters article:

    Karsnitz said he appreciated that the ACLU of Delaware might disagree with ​corporate voting. “Visions ⁠of faceless large corporations or even HAL controlling a small town are frightening and the stuff of science fiction,” he wrote

    Is this just AI eating itself or like blatant lazy-plagiarism style writing to make an ad?