“Walking across the U.S. is not a rational act,” said Robin Monahan in an interview with the Epoch Times. He and his brother have undertaken a journey across the United States on foot in hopes of increasing awareness about why recognizing corporations as persons in U.S. law is threatening democracy.
Robin, 67, and Laird, 69, are Minnesotans with the Minnesota nice style. They are both retired, both grew up as independent voters and both once served in Vietnam.
“We are very new to the idea of political activity,” said Robin. For their first go at political activity, they have certainly chosen a weighty goal.
Starting at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and going to Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. the brothers plan to walk along U.S. highway 50 in hopes of increasing awareness about a law they believe is hindering the democratic process.
Their decision to initiate the journey was inspired by the January 21, 2010, supreme court ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Elections Committee, which ruled 5–4 in support of not limiting the corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections. On the day of the ruling, New York Times writer, David Kirkpatrick wrote, “The Supreme Court has handed lobbyists a new weapon. A lobbyist can now tell any elected official: if you vote wrong, my company, labor union, or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election.”
On their blog, Laird and Robin share their feelings when they first discovered the Supreme Court ruling. “I felt weak in the knees and sat down. I was so despondent that I almost cried. It seemed to me that the Court had made a fraud of the Constitution. It made people second-class citizens to corporations,” wrote Laird.
For the duo, the decision to consider corporations as persons with legal rights such as free speech undermines the democratic process in serious ways. According to Robin, attributing person-hood to corporations under U.S. law is incorrect because for one, “Corporations do not have the same limitations as individuals do... corporations are now immortal. They don’t die. We do.” This means that they can expend much larger and longer lasting influence on the political process.
Secondly, the “economic resources [of corporations] are much more than individuals such as you and I.” This strengthens the political influence that corporations will have on our political freedom, explained Robin.
Monday was the thirtieth day of a journey they expect to take them 150 days. The distance to be trekked: 3000 miles. The distance trekked: 600 miles. The two brothers have a long walk a head of them.
Motivated by “anger [and] disappointment,” however, the brothers, nearly 70-years-old are undeterred. “It is really an act of desperation to raise people’s awareness of what has happened to our democracy,” Robin said
The aim for which they strive is to start a movement to amend the constitution to abolish corporate person-hood. “This is our only issue.” When asked why this issue in specific, Robin explained that the issue is crucial for everyone, transcending the often solid lines of bipartisanship.
“We have found no one that disagrees with us in that corps have too much political influence,” said Robin. In his experience, people, regardless of their background, all agree with the fact that corporations play too large a role in stirring the course of political discourses and decision making.
The influence of corporations on politics culminated in the regulatory failures leading to the BP oil spill. President Obama has at numerous times mentioned the “cozy relations” between corporations and the agencies that regulate them and vowed to place more stringent regulations on the relationship between corporations and their regulatory agencies.
In regards to the Gulf of Mexico disaster, Robin said, “the industry was able to have safety regulations removed for the sake of profits. This is a great contributory factor to the great disaster happening in the Gulf Coast of Mexico. This was an instance where the corporations were able to appoint their own regulators.”
For Robin and Laird, their steps across the United States symbolize steps toward more awareness regarding current limitations imposed on the democratic process. There are “vulnerabilities that democracies have when big business gets involved in the political process. Democracy is a fragile philosophy [that] needs to be protected,” said Robin.
Robin, 67, and Laird, 69, are Minnesotans with the Minnesota nice style. They are both retired, both grew up as independent voters and both once served in Vietnam.
“We are very new to the idea of political activity,” said Robin. For their first go at political activity, they have certainly chosen a weighty goal.
Starting at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and going to Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. the brothers plan to walk along U.S. highway 50 in hopes of increasing awareness about a law they believe is hindering the democratic process.
Their decision to initiate the journey was inspired by the January 21, 2010, supreme court ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Elections Committee, which ruled 5–4 in support of not limiting the corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections. On the day of the ruling, New York Times writer, David Kirkpatrick wrote, “The Supreme Court has handed lobbyists a new weapon. A lobbyist can now tell any elected official: if you vote wrong, my company, labor union, or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election.”
On their blog, Laird and Robin share their feelings when they first discovered the Supreme Court ruling. “I felt weak in the knees and sat down. I was so despondent that I almost cried. It seemed to me that the Court had made a fraud of the Constitution. It made people second-class citizens to corporations,” wrote Laird.
For the duo, the decision to consider corporations as persons with legal rights such as free speech undermines the democratic process in serious ways. According to Robin, attributing person-hood to corporations under U.S. law is incorrect because for one, “Corporations do not have the same limitations as individuals do... corporations are now immortal. They don’t die. We do.” This means that they can expend much larger and longer lasting influence on the political process.
Secondly, the “economic resources [of corporations] are much more than individuals such as you and I.” This strengthens the political influence that corporations will have on our political freedom, explained Robin.
Monday was the thirtieth day of a journey they expect to take them 150 days. The distance to be trekked: 3000 miles. The distance trekked: 600 miles. The two brothers have a long walk a head of them.
Motivated by “anger [and] disappointment,” however, the brothers, nearly 70-years-old are undeterred. “It is really an act of desperation to raise people’s awareness of what has happened to our democracy,” Robin said
The aim for which they strive is to start a movement to amend the constitution to abolish corporate person-hood. “This is our only issue.” When asked why this issue in specific, Robin explained that the issue is crucial for everyone, transcending the often solid lines of bipartisanship.
“We have found no one that disagrees with us in that corps have too much political influence,” said Robin. In his experience, people, regardless of their background, all agree with the fact that corporations play too large a role in stirring the course of political discourses and decision making.
The influence of corporations on politics culminated in the regulatory failures leading to the BP oil spill. President Obama has at numerous times mentioned the “cozy relations” between corporations and the agencies that regulate them and vowed to place more stringent regulations on the relationship between corporations and their regulatory agencies.
In regards to the Gulf of Mexico disaster, Robin said, “the industry was able to have safety regulations removed for the sake of profits. This is a great contributory factor to the great disaster happening in the Gulf Coast of Mexico. This was an instance where the corporations were able to appoint their own regulators.”
For Robin and Laird, their steps across the United States symbolize steps toward more awareness regarding current limitations imposed on the democratic process. There are “vulnerabilities that democracies have when big business gets involved in the political process. Democracy is a fragile philosophy [that] needs to be protected,” said Robin.
