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Corporate Personhood Is the Deadly Virus of Climate Chaos
Sep 18, 2014
Unrestrained corporate power is the Ebola virus of our global ecological crisis. Rooting it out will demand a whole new level of resistance.
The worldwide march for the climate this weekend is focussed on moving us to a Solartopian energy supply, a green-powered Earth.
But those who march must also focus on the real core problem: the nature of the modern corporation.
As currently structured, the corporations' sole mandate is to make profit. Its insatiable need for more and more money, and its immunity from the consequences of its actions, are unsustainable in any sense.
Its fossil fuels heat our planet. Its atomic reactors threaten us all.
Meanwhile, solar, wind and other Solartopian technologies plunge in price while surging in efficiency. It's now abundantly clear they can power our civilization cleaner, cheaper, more reliably and with more job creation than old King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas).
In a free and open marketplace, they would have won long ago.
But it's the inherent nature of corporations to HATE the marketplace.
They always demand monopoly. They push complex, capital-intensive, centralized technologies that only they can control.
They fight off any social or ecological responsibilities. And they do not tolerate competition.
Not on the internet, where they want to kill net neutrality and monopolize the flow of ideas and information.
Nor from green energy technologies that threaten their profits and control.
Windmills have been around for centuries. The photovoltaic cell was born six decades ago. A 1952 federal report predicted 13 million solar-heated U.S. homes by 1975.
By all rights, we should already have a green-powered planet.
Today's climate crisis was avoidable.
But in the fossil/nuke world it currently rules, King CONG is above the law. It's been cheaper for the fossil/nuke corporations to wreck the Earth--and our health--than to protect them.
So now we must take the next step.
It's a great thing to march on climate chaos, and to finally know that our power can and must come in concert with our Mother Earth, rather than at war with her.
Keystone XL, tar sands, oil leases, mountaintop removal, fracking, nukes ... these all must be stopped.
A carbon tax, environmental regulation, Solartopian technologies ... these all must be put in place.
But nothing truly lasting will happen until we eradicate the virus that's killing us all--the unrestrained corporate power over our lives and planet.
The core engine of our economy must at last be made directly accountable to humankind and our Mother Earth.
Until that happens, we are an endangered species.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 EcoWatch
Harvey Wasserman
Harvey Wasserman is an activist and author. His first book "Harvey Wasserman's History of the United States" was published in 1972. Harvey edits www.nukefree.org.
Unrestrained corporate power is the Ebola virus of our global ecological crisis. Rooting it out will demand a whole new level of resistance.
The worldwide march for the climate this weekend is focussed on moving us to a Solartopian energy supply, a green-powered Earth.
But those who march must also focus on the real core problem: the nature of the modern corporation.
As currently structured, the corporations' sole mandate is to make profit. Its insatiable need for more and more money, and its immunity from the consequences of its actions, are unsustainable in any sense.
Its fossil fuels heat our planet. Its atomic reactors threaten us all.
Meanwhile, solar, wind and other Solartopian technologies plunge in price while surging in efficiency. It's now abundantly clear they can power our civilization cleaner, cheaper, more reliably and with more job creation than old King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas).
In a free and open marketplace, they would have won long ago.
But it's the inherent nature of corporations to HATE the marketplace.
They always demand monopoly. They push complex, capital-intensive, centralized technologies that only they can control.
They fight off any social or ecological responsibilities. And they do not tolerate competition.
Not on the internet, where they want to kill net neutrality and monopolize the flow of ideas and information.
Nor from green energy technologies that threaten their profits and control.
Windmills have been around for centuries. The photovoltaic cell was born six decades ago. A 1952 federal report predicted 13 million solar-heated U.S. homes by 1975.
By all rights, we should already have a green-powered planet.
Today's climate crisis was avoidable.
But in the fossil/nuke world it currently rules, King CONG is above the law. It's been cheaper for the fossil/nuke corporations to wreck the Earth--and our health--than to protect them.
So now we must take the next step.
It's a great thing to march on climate chaos, and to finally know that our power can and must come in concert with our Mother Earth, rather than at war with her.
Keystone XL, tar sands, oil leases, mountaintop removal, fracking, nukes ... these all must be stopped.
A carbon tax, environmental regulation, Solartopian technologies ... these all must be put in place.
But nothing truly lasting will happen until we eradicate the virus that's killing us all--the unrestrained corporate power over our lives and planet.
The core engine of our economy must at last be made directly accountable to humankind and our Mother Earth.
Until that happens, we are an endangered species.
Harvey Wasserman
Harvey Wasserman is an activist and author. His first book "Harvey Wasserman's History of the United States" was published in 1972. Harvey edits www.nukefree.org.
Unrestrained corporate power is the Ebola virus of our global ecological crisis. Rooting it out will demand a whole new level of resistance.
The worldwide march for the climate this weekend is focussed on moving us to a Solartopian energy supply, a green-powered Earth.
But those who march must also focus on the real core problem: the nature of the modern corporation.
As currently structured, the corporations' sole mandate is to make profit. Its insatiable need for more and more money, and its immunity from the consequences of its actions, are unsustainable in any sense.
Its fossil fuels heat our planet. Its atomic reactors threaten us all.
Meanwhile, solar, wind and other Solartopian technologies plunge in price while surging in efficiency. It's now abundantly clear they can power our civilization cleaner, cheaper, more reliably and with more job creation than old King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas).
In a free and open marketplace, they would have won long ago.
But it's the inherent nature of corporations to HATE the marketplace.
They always demand monopoly. They push complex, capital-intensive, centralized technologies that only they can control.
They fight off any social or ecological responsibilities. And they do not tolerate competition.
Not on the internet, where they want to kill net neutrality and monopolize the flow of ideas and information.
Nor from green energy technologies that threaten their profits and control.
Windmills have been around for centuries. The photovoltaic cell was born six decades ago. A 1952 federal report predicted 13 million solar-heated U.S. homes by 1975.
By all rights, we should already have a green-powered planet.
Today's climate crisis was avoidable.
But in the fossil/nuke world it currently rules, King CONG is above the law. It's been cheaper for the fossil/nuke corporations to wreck the Earth--and our health--than to protect them.
So now we must take the next step.
It's a great thing to march on climate chaos, and to finally know that our power can and must come in concert with our Mother Earth, rather than at war with her.
Keystone XL, tar sands, oil leases, mountaintop removal, fracking, nukes ... these all must be stopped.
A carbon tax, environmental regulation, Solartopian technologies ... these all must be put in place.
But nothing truly lasting will happen until we eradicate the virus that's killing us all--the unrestrained corporate power over our lives and planet.
The core engine of our economy must at last be made directly accountable to humankind and our Mother Earth.
Until that happens, we are an endangered species.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.