The Great Paradox of Citizens United: Corporate Personhood and Corporate Malfeasance
One of the biggest paradoxes of the modern corporate landscape is the concept of corporate personhood. Under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, corporations are granted the same free speech rights as individual people. This means that corporations can spend unlimited money on political campaigns and lobbying efforts, effectively using their financial power to influence political outcomes.
However, when it comes to accountability, corporations do not face the same consequences as individual people.
If an individual commits a crime, they can be arrested, charged, and sent to jail. But when a corporation engages in criminal behavior, the penalties are often limited to fines, which can be seen as merely a cost of doing business.
While corporations are granted many of the same rights as individual people, they are not held to the same standards of accountability.
This paradox allows corporations to act with impunity, engaging in harmful practices without fear of serious consequences.
A corporation might knowingly violate environmental regulations, causing harm to people and the planet. They lie to consumers, bribe politicians, exploit workers and on and on.
While the corporation might face fines for their actions, the individuals responsible for those actions are rarely held accountable.
Corporations Are Not People
If we want businesses contributing to society, we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to corporate accountability.
We need to recognize that corporations are not people, and that the people responsible for corporate malfeasance must be held accountable for their actions.
This means pursuing criminal charges against executives who engage in criminal behavior, rather than merely imposing fines. When corporations are found to be breaking the law, our law enforcement needs to find the individuals responsible and put them in jail.
It could also mean rethinking our approach to corporate governance, empowering workers, communities, even consumers, to hold corporations accountable for their actions.
Toward Corporate Accountability
The paradox of corporate personhood highlights the need for a more nuanced and effective approach to corporate accountability. By recognizing the unique power and influence of corporations, and by holding those responsible for their actions to account, we can build a more just and equitable society, where the well-being of people and the planet is prioritized over the profits of corporations.
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