Corporations

Corporate influence

Global multinational corporations have massive influence over politics, economies, and everyday life. In Democracy 2.0, they wouldn’t control policy, but their resources and innovations could still be harnessed for public good instead of private exploitation.

1. Reshape Corporate Influence

• Public Ownership of Essential Industries – Tech, healthcare, and energy giants must transition to worker or government ownership instead of billionaire monopolies.
• Decentralized Production Networks – Rather than a few companies controlling global manufacturing, supply chains are regionalized, reducing corporate strangleholds.
• Strict Anti-Lobbying Laws – Corporations must be barred from influencing government policies, ensuring democracy serves people, not profit.

2. Transitioning Away from Corporate Control

• Mandatory Wealth Redistribution – Large companies must reinvest profits back into society or face strict taxation.
• Breakup of Monopoly Power – Any corporation controlling more than 25% of its industry is automatically split into smaller, worker-owned segments.
• Public Innovation Incentives – Instead of relying on corporate R&D, governments directly fund new technologies, ensuring advancements benefit everyone.

3. The Path to Democracy 2.0

• Grassroots Mobilization – Small-scale local governance experiments help prove Democracy 2.0 works, paving the way for larger adoption.
• International Policy Alliances – Countries committed to justice-driven economies form an economic and political coalition to implement reforms.
• Mass Public Education – The transition must be understood by the people—funding for civic education ensures democratic literacy before major changes occur.
• Incremental Policy Shifts – Rather than sudden upheaval, each component (economic reform, government restructuring, environmental safeguards) is phased in strategically.

This approach ensures a peaceful transition, rather than chaotic power struggles.

Corporations are not people

Below is an expanded discussion outlining how Democracy 2.0 would eliminate the influence of corporate money in politics by overturning Citizens United and legally enshrining the principle that corporations are not people and do not have the rights of people.

Eliminating Corporate Influence: Repealing Citizens United and Enshrining “Corporations Are Not People”

One of the core objectives in Democracy 2.0 is to ensure that political decision-making is driven solely by the will of the people—not by moneyed interests. To achieve this, we must fundamentally change the legal and financial landscape of political influence. Two critical reforms that work hand-in-hand are:

1. Repeal or Overturn Citizens United
2. Constitutionally Enshrine that Corporations Are Not People

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1. Repeal or Overturn Citizens United

Background:
The landmark Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC allowed for unlimited independent spending by corporations and unions. This ruling equates financial expenditure with free speech, effectively granting corporations the same political rights as individuals. As a result, corporations have been able to funnel massive amounts of money into shaping policy and influencing elections, often drowning out the voices of ordinary citizens.

Reform Objectives:

• Limit Corporate Spending:
  Create a legal framework that prohibits or strictly limits corporate expenditures on political campaigns. This prevents corporations from leveraging their enormous financial resources to dominate political discourse.

• Remove “Corporate Personhood” in the Political Arena:
  Ensure that money spent by corporations is not considered equivalent to human free speech. This means establishing clear legal boundaries that exclude corporate funds from being treated as personal political contributions.

• Legislative and Constitutional Action:

  • Constitutional Amendment: Enshrine in the Constitution that political rights and free speech protections apply only to natural persons, thereby explicitly preventing corporations—artificial entities—from exercising these rights in political contexts.
  • Statutory Reforms: Pass comprehensive campaign finance laws that nullify the legal effects of Citizens United. This involves revising existing election laws and creating independent oversight mechanisms to enforce these changes.

Benefits:

• Restored Democratic Accountability:
  By curbing the outsized influence of corporate money, elected officials remain accountable to the people rather than to corporate donors.

• Enhanced Political Equality:
  Ensuring that public policy is the product of a fair exchange among citizens makes the political process more inclusive and equitable.

• Increased Transparency in Political Finance:
  Coupled with universal transparency measures, the repeal of Citizens United would create a system where every dollar in political spending is traceable and subject to public scrutiny.

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2. Enshrining “Corporations Are Not People”

Rationale:
The legal fiction that corporations are “persons” under the law has far-reaching effects, particularly in political finance. Treating corporations as people on matters of political influence gives them disproportionate power. In Democracy 2.0, this notion must be rejected to realign political power with human interests.

Reform Objectives:

• Constitutional Guarantee:
  Amend the constitution to specify that only natural persons possess the full spectrum of constitutional rights—including the right to free political speech. This would safeguard the political process by ensuring no entity can claim human rights based solely on its corporate structure.

• Legal Clarification:

  • Explicit Language: Embed in legal texts that corporations are legal constructs created for economic and social purposes. They are tools for organizing business and innovation but do not have the ability to vote or contribute political speech in the same manner as real people.
  • Limit Political Capacities: Prohibit any corporate entity from making political contributions or engaging in political campaigning, except as strictly regulated in matters that benefit the public interest (such as issue advocacy, which would also be subject to full disclosure and oversight).

Benefits:

• Curtailing Disproportionate Influence:
  With the principle that corporations are not people firmly in place, the political system will be less prone to bias and manipulation by powerful corporate interests.

• Rebalancing Political Power:
  This ensures that the democratic process centers on individuals—giving every citizen, regardless of their financial standing, an equal opportunity to influence political outcomes.

• Strengthening Accountability:
  By specifically excluding corporations from quality rights afforded to human beings, the system reinforces that elected officials are accountable to the people, not to corporate donors.

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Integrating These Reforms into Democracy 2.0

Technical and Institutional Safeguards:

• Open Source Transparency:
  All campaign finance activities would be integrated into a blockchain-based, open source digital platform where every political contribution is recorded in real time. This ensures that corporate attempts to channel influence are fully visible and auditable by the public.

• Independent Oversight:
  A dedicated, nonpartisan oversight commission would be established to monitor political spending and enforce the new legal limits rigorously, including regular audits and public reporting.

• Legal and Public Education Initiatives:
  To educate both lawmakers and the public on the dangers of corporate influence in politics, comprehensive programs would be implemented. These programs would elucidate the historical context of corporate personhood and explain the reforms needed to protect democratic processes.

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By repealing Citizens United and enshrining the principle that corporations are not people, Democracy 2.0 seeks to reclaim political power for ordinary citizens. This is a vital step toward building a system in which democracy is not for sale, ensuring that policy decisions reflect the needs and values of the people, not the interests of wealthy corporate entities.

Eliminating Corporate Influence

1. Strict Limits on Private Campaign Donations – No billionaire or corporation can fund a politician beyond a set limit, preventing policy manipulation.
2. Public Financing of Elections – Elections are funded entirely by public money, ensuring leaders serve the people, not donors.
3. Worker Ownership Initiatives – Large corporations must share ownership with workers, ensuring no single individual can dictate policy unchecked.

Preventing Monopoly Power

1. Anti-Monopoly Lock – Corporations cannot own more than a 45% of their industry, ensuring competitive markets.
2. Decentralized Economic Power – Essential infrastructure (banks, utilities, agriculture) must be community-controlled, removing private profiteering from necessities.

By hardwiring wealth equality into the system, Project 2028 could prevent billionaires from ever becoming a threat—true democracy can’t exist when wealth buys influence.

Corporate Accountability

Corporations shouldn’t be able to profit from deception without real consequences. Democracy 2.0 needs severe, automatic penalties to ensure accountability. Here’s how we could enforce corporate truth and transparency:

1. Automatic Financial Penalties

• Companies caught misleading consumers or hiding environmental hazards would face massive fines—not symbolic penalties, but ones large enough to erase their profits from deception entirely.
• If a corporation profits off a harmful lie, they must pay back every cent to affected consumers.

2. Mandatory Disclosure & Public Accountability

• All companies must publicly release full environmental and health impact reports—no hidden dangers allowed.
• Digital truth tracking: A public ledger ensures permanent records of corporate actions, preventing history from being rewritten.

3. Criminal Charges for Executives

• If corporate deception leads to public harm, environmental destruction, or major financial loss, executives responsible must face criminal prosecution—not just fines.
• CEOs and board members can be permanently barred from leadership roles if found guilty of systemic deceit.

4. Consumer Compensation & Reparations

• Consumers harmed by misleading advertising or hidden dangers automatically receive compensation, without lengthy legal battles.
• A consumer protection fund, paid for by corporate penalties, ensures that victims are reimbursed swiftly.

5. Permanent Market Restrictions

• Companies caught repeatedly violating transparency laws can be banned from certain markets, preventing them from continuing harmful practices in different sectors.
• Government contracts and public funding should be immediately revoked for any corporation guilty of deception.

This ensures lying isn’t just unethical—it’s financially and legally catastrophic for corporations. Want to push these penalties even further?

Ensuring Swift and Fair Compensation for Corporate Misconduct

When corporations intentionally harm people, whether through fraud, deception, or dangerous products, victims deserve swift, meaningful compensation. Democracy 2.0 should ensure that justice isn’t slow or inaccessible. Here's how compensation could be automatic, fair, and severe enough to deter corporate misconduct:

1. Immediate Compensation Without Bureaucratic Delays

• Corporations must pay full restitution to affected individuals without forcing them into lengthy lawsuits.
• A pre-funded consumer protection pool—financed by corporate penalties—ensures victims receive instant financial aid while legal proceedings finalize.

2. Corporate Penalties That Fit the Harm

• Triple Compensation Rule – If a company intentionally deceives or harms people, they must pay three times the financial damage caused.
• CEO Accountability – If fraud or harm was approved by executives, they personally face financial penalties or criminal charges.

3. Public Disclosure & Business Restrictions

• Companies that engage in deceptive or harmful practices must publicly disclose their violations, ensuring consumers can make informed choices.
• Severe offenders could be barred from operating in certain industries, ensuring they don’t continue harmful practices elsewhere.

4. Preventative Measures to Stop Harm Before It Happens

• Mandatory product and service safety evaluations, independent truth audits, and real-time consumer feedback oversight ensure companies don’t get away with deception in the first place.
• AI-powered monitoring systems track corporate financial activity, flagging potential fraud before it leads to mass harm.

5. Long-Term Support for Victims

• Compensation shouldn’t just be a payout—victims of health-related or financial harm caused by corporations should receive lifetime support if needed.
• Automatic healthcare coverage for those harmed by unsafe products, environmental disasters, or workplace neglect.

This ensures that corporations fear deception and negligence as much as they fear losing profits. Should we push these corporate punishments even further?