The Supreme Court overturned much of the McCain-Feingold legislation today. I like that. I think people, and in this case groups of people, ought to be left unrestricted in their political expressions and financial donations. Five of our justices seem to agree with me.
A line from the dissenting opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, caught my eye:
“In the context of election to public office, the distinction between corporate and human speakers is significant. Although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it.”
True, a corporation is not a member of society. But who owns and operates it? Members of society. The distinction attempted above has bothered me for years. At what point in the growth of a business does the owner cease to function as an individual, instead representing a heartless, lifeless, corporate big-wig? Do you draw the line at a certain annual revenue? Number of employees? Government is in the business of drawing lines where none exist, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there were real answers to these questions, and that they made no sense at all.
I teach guitar lessons, only a few hours per week for now. I will eventually expand my services. I assume at some point I will need to register my business and pay potentially crippling taxes on it. Why? Because people think there’s a fundamental difference between running a company and face-to-face exchanges of valued goods and services between individuals.
3 Comments
hmm, will have to largely disagree with you on this one, joseph. corporations are solely obligated to act in the best interest of their stockholders. that means make them a shit ton of money and screw over the environment, developing countries, and human rights among other things. where an individual is easily prosecuted for acts against their fellow man, corporations have an unfair advantage – usually the result of lining the pockets of their legislators.
not to say all corporations are doing this. if the growing amount of CSRs are any indication, corporations are learning that they can’t fuck over people for long and get away with it. but those corporations, the ones who genuinely abide by the UN’s Global Compact for example, are by far the minority. the traditional big-wig corporation is still ruling the world, but more and more are disguising themselves as socially responsible companies when they are anything but (monsanto being a prime suspect). THIS IS NOT GOOD.
while i highly respect (and am quite envious of) your geetar skillz, i don’t think you will start a corporation of guitar instructors. small business, maybe. and seeing my own father be the sole proprietor of his own business for over 20 years, i can say with full confidence that “crippling taxes” never came into play, so i doubt you will have to worry about that either.
much love,
patty
Hi Patty!
I wrote most of my response in a separate post.
On the taxes, I was careful to say “potentially crippling taxes.” If I’m barely in the black, then introducing any taxes at all could indeed cripple my operation.
Also, where is the line between a small business and a corporation? You seem to see a distinct one. I don’t.
i should clarify that to me, small business is a sole proprietorship or partnership, one that exists maybe through debt financing but not investments. no board to answer to.
teach me the uke now, please.