I went the the Seattle Green Fest a couple of weeks ago. I also recently read the Greg Palast article about Exxon's treatment of the Valdeze case. 

http://www.gregpalast.com/stick-your-damn-hand-in-it-20th-birthday-of-the-exxon-valdez-lie/

From one or both of these to sources I learned of the following possibilities for countering corporate abuse of constitutional rights. These ideas are sketches at this point, but I think this community ought to start championing one or more of them.

1) A person who was a victim of the valdeze spill (sorry I don't have name at this moment - please, someone help out with this info) is working to create, and gain support, for a new amendment to the constitution that would address the problem of corporate person-hood head on. I don't know the details yet, but will post when I learn of them.

I think this community may be a great group to push this idea.

2) The head of the organization Global Exchange ((Kevin Donaher http://www.greenfestivals.org/speaker-directory/seattle-2009/Page-2/)) proposed, and I believe is working on, ways for non-profit organizations to become monitoring agents of corporate behavior. In essence, he is suggesting that non-profits be the official watch dogs of corporate behavior. Of course, in some ways this is already happening. However, he is suggesting that non-profit watchdog agencies be given more power either legally, or by cultural consensus to actually be able to constrain corporate behavior.

This could be accomplished in a number of ways - like a rating system that measures corporate ethics and that consumers will look for when making purchases. Like an E Star rating for corporate social/environmental behavior. Another way would be for government to enact this through new laws that appointed non-profits to do this work and provided a legal feedback mechanism that the non-profits could use to stop corporate abuses. Such laws would have a foundation in John Elkington's idea of the "Triple Bottom Line" - people, planet, prosperity.

Yet another possibility is to rewrite the required elements of all new and existing business charters to include necessary environmental and social responsibilities. Breaking these rules to many times could then result in much more than fines. Ultimately, it could mean revoking the charter, or wresting ownership and control from the current owners/operators.

So what does everyone think?

I know I should read more of the other posts on here to see what others have said. Maybe I'm repeating some ideas.

At any rate, When? do we get started putting some real actions together??

BTW, I also think we need to revise our money system, and that doing so could end a great deal of the abuses we see plus create economic equity, plus put control of our money systems back into the hands of the community.

OK, I'll be looking for some responses.
- by Jeremiah Podleski