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Reclaiming Our Democracy “We the People” – Not “We the Corporations”

Reclaiming Our Democracy “We the People” – Not “We the Corporations” A presentation for the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship March 16, 2012. Daniel Lee, Move to Amend, Los Angeles John Goodman, California Clean Money Campaign, Orange County. We Want This:. Not This:.

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Reclaiming Our Democracy “We the People” – Not “We the Corporations”

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  1. Reclaiming Our Democracy “We the People” – Not “We the Corporations” A presentation for theConejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship March 16, 2012 Daniel Lee, Move to Amend, Los Angeles John Goodman, California Clean Money Campaign, Orange County

  2. We Want This:

  3. Not This:

  4. TONIGHT’S TALK WILL BE ABOUT: A Beautiful Vision for Our Country, Two Contrary Trends, and Things that YOU Can Doto Help Us Get our Countryon the Right Track

  5. A Grand Vision(a closer look) • Our founding documents articulate a grand and beautiful vision • Democracy = everyone is equal • Equal in political power and in opportunity • A very nice idea, but so far unrealized in practice!

  6. A Grand Vision(a closer look) Our constitution makes three claims: • We the People are the source of all authority and power • We establish a government and elect representatives to run it on our behalf • All powers not specifically given to the government remain with We the People!

  7. A Grand Vision(a closer look) • Much of our history has been a struggle to define exactly who are We The People. • That is, who gets to have the rights set forth in the Constitution. • And on whose behalf should our representatives work.

  8. The Founding Problem • At our nation’s founding and for roughly a wise man’s lifetime thereafter, not all men were counted as equal. African-descended slaves were merely a fraction of a man.

  9. The Founding Problem • At our nation’s founding and for roughly a wise man’s lifetime thereafter, not all men were counted as equal. African-descended slaves were merely a fraction of a man. • And only white male landowners had the right to vote or hold office.

  10. The Founding Problem • At our nation’s founding and for roughly a wise man’s lifetime thereafter, not all men were counted as equal. African-descended slaves were merely a fraction of a man. • And only white male landowners had the right to vote or hold office. • Men of that time couldn’t even think of women as equal; they were property, like children.

  11. The First Great Trend • This is a series of broad movements By the People, and For the People.

  12. The First Great Trend • This is a series of broad movements By the People, and For the People. • It begins with outrage,

  13. The First Great Trend • This is a series of broad movements By the People, and For the People. • It begins with outrage, • Spreads until it changes the culture,

  14. The First Great Trend • This is a series of broad movements By the People, and For the People. • It begins with outrage, • Spreads until it changes the culture, • And is finally ratified by legislation.

  15. The First Great Trend • This is a series of broad movements By the People, and For the People. • It begins with outrage, • Spreads until it changes the culture, • And is finally ratified by legislation. THIS IS DEMOCRACY in action!

  16. The First Great Trend • In the 18th and 19th centuries a grass roots movement pushed the notion that truly all men deserved to be treated equally. That slavery was an abomination.

  17. The First Great Trend • In the 18th and 19th centuries a grass roots movement pushed the notion that truly all men deserved to be treated equally. That slavery was an abomination. • By the end of the civil war, that notion was established in our laws. Slavery was no more.

  18. The First Great Trend • In the 18th and 19th centuries a grass roots movement pushed the notion that truly all men deserved to be treated equally. That slavery was an abomination. • By the end of the civil war, that notion was established in our laws. Slavery was no more. • But discrimination continued….

  19. The First Great Trend • Another grass roots movement grew in strength asserting that women were as entitled as men to be empowered as full members of the polity, with all the same right and responsibilities as men.

  20. The First Great Trend • Property rights for women came first

  21. The First Great Trend • Property rightsfor women came first • Voting rights came later

  22. The First Great Trend • Property rightsfor women came first • Voting rights came later • Full equality in the workplace is much more recent…and some would say is still a work in progress.

  23. The First Great Trend • Property rightsfor women came first • Voting rights came later • Full equality in the workplace is much more recent…and some would say is still a work in progress. • Reproductive rights are a hot item of debate right now!

  24. The First Great Trend • By now we called this ever evolving effort the Civil Rights Movement (still a grass roots movement) • The first focus was fighting discrimination against blacks and other racial minorities • Then it moved on to fight discrimination against women • And it has now expanded to fighting discrimination against disabled, LGBT, and others

  25. The First Great Trend • By now we called this ever evolving effort the Civil Rights Movement (still a grass roots movement) • The first focus was fighting discrimination against blacks and other racial minorities • Then it moved on to fight discrimination against women • And it has now expanded to fighting discrimination against disabled, LGBT, and others

  26. The First Great Trend • By now we called this ever evolving effort the Civil Rights Movement (still a grass roots movement) • The first focus was fighting discrimination against blacks and other racial minorities • Then it moved on to fight discrimination against women • And it has now expanded to fighting discrimination against disabled, LGBT, and others

  27. The First Great Trend • By now we called this ever evolving effort the Civil Rights Movement (still a grass roots movement) • The first focus was fighting discrimination against blacks and other racial minorities • Then it moved on to fight discrimination against women • And it has now expanded to fighting discrimination against disabled, LGBT, and others

  28. The First Great Trend Most recently attention has shiftedto some new battlegrounds:

  29. The First Great Trend Most recently attention has shiftedto some new battlegrounds: • Reducing or eliminating the power of money in electoral politics

  30. The First Great Trend Most recently attention has shiftedto some new battlegrounds: • Reducing or eliminating the power of money in electoral politics • Restricting “rights” to actual people

  31. The First Great Trend Most recently attention has shiftedto some new battlegrounds: • Reducing or eliminating the power of money in electoral politics • Restricting “rights” to actual people These are the two topics we’ll bediscussing for the rest of this evening.

  32. The Contrary Trend • This is a narrow “movement.”

  33. The Contrary Trend • This is a narrow “movement.” • Based in class and privilege.

  34. The Contrary Trend • This is a narrow “movement.” • Based in class and privilege. • Enforced through the courts, instead of by legislation.

  35. The Contrary Trend • This is a narrow “movement.” • Based in class and privilege. • Enforced through the courts, instead of by legislation. • Unlike the First Trend, this one has mostly been out of sight.

  36. The Contrary Trend • This is a narrow “movement.” • Based in class and privilege. • Enforced through the courts, instead of by legislation. • Unlike the First Trend, this one has mostly been out of sight. • But it sure has been effective!

  37. The Contrary Trend • The founders of our country knew that if everyone got to be included in We The People, they’d lose many of their cherished privileges.

  38. The Contrary Trend • The founders of our country knew that if everyone got to be included in We The People, they’d lose many of their cherished privileges. • They soon found a way to subvert that trend.

  39. The Contrary Trend • The founders of our country knew that if everyone got to be included in We The People, they’d lose many of their cherished privileges. • They soon found a way to subvert that trend. • They sought to make corporations have “personhood.”

  40. The Contrary Trend • Then, each time The People got some new right, so would corporations, and that would enable the powerful to keep their power and privilege.

  41. The Contrary Trend • Then, each time The People got some new right, so would corporations, and that would enable the powerful to keep their power and privilege. • But at first the courts blocked this attempt.

  42. The Contrary Trend • Then, each time The People got some new right, so would corporations, and that would enable the powerful to keep their power and privilege. • But at first the courts blocked this attempt. • Starting 130 years ago, after packing the Supreme Court with company lawyers, they succeeded!

  43. The Contrary Trend • In the case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad in 1886.

  44. The Contrary Trend • In the case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad in 1886. • Corporations got to be included in We The People at a time when most black men, women, and Native Americans still did NOT have that right.

  45. The Contrary Trend • In the case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad in 1886. • Corporations got to be included in We The People at a time when most black men, women, and Native Americans still did NOT have that right. • Although not actually a Court decision, this case has been cited as precedent ever since.

  46. The Contrary Trend • In 2010, in the case Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, by a narrow (5 to 4) vote, the Supreme Court took this result to a new extreme. • They declared spending money was just like speech, and so was protected by the 1st Amendment. • Now Corporations can contribute unlimited amounts of money to “independent” expenditures meant to buy our elections.

  47. The Contrary Trend • In 2010, in the case Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, by a narrow (5 to 4) vote, the Supreme Court took this result to a new extreme. • They declared spending money was just like speech, and so was protected by the 1st Amendment. • Now Corporations can contribute unlimited amounts of money to “independent” expenditures meant to buy our elections.

  48. The Contrary Trend • In 2010, in the case Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, by a narrow (5 to 4) vote, the Supreme Court took this result to a new extreme. • They declared spending money was just like speech, and so was protected by the 1st Amendment. • Now Corporations can contribute unlimited amounts of money to “independent” expenditures meant to buy our elections.

  49. The Contrary Trend • Thus, by a relatively hidden, and profoundly NON-DEMOCRATIC method (using the courts instead of votes of the people’s representatives or direct votes of the people), the wealthy and privileged have preserved their class and its superior privileges and power over the rest of us.

  50. The Contrary Trend • Thus, by a relatively hidden, and profoundly NON-DEMOCRATIC method (using the courts instead of votes of the people’s representatives or direct votes of the people), the wealthy and privileged have preserved their class and its superior privileges and power over the rest of us. • DOES THAT MAKE YOU ANGRY?

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