So this is on Reddit's frontpage right now, and I just want to point out a few things. At first I thought this was a joke because of how simple-minded it is, with two people seemingly discussing the reason that corporations are given the rights of citizens -- and that reason is, obviously, that corporations are comprised of people who do not lose their rights simply because they've entered into business together. So a few big things "corporate personhood" (clearly I think this label is a huge misnomer) gives them: corporations can be sued and taxed, and they also can't be censored unfairly. Stuff it doesn't give them: the right to donate to campaigns. That's from a separate court ruling from the case Citizens United v. The FEC, which doesn't pertain to corporate personhood in the slightest. And even if corporations couldn't directly donate, then the shareholders could just give themselves the money and spend it themselves, which I presume would be private information; I think I'd prefer to make it transparent and have the corporations do it. There's also quite a bit of irony (hypocrisy?) in Ben and Jerry using their corporate name in a political setting to advocate against the right of corporations to speak and donate in the realm of politics.

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on July 14, 2015, 05:40:19 PM

corporations can be sued and taxed

Just as a minor digression, this doesn't seem like a good thing.

We know taxing corporations is a pretty awful idea, and I imagine suing them isn't as effective as suing the executives/shareholders.

Yeah, I was pointing it out because liberals often cite corporate personhood as a shady backdoor deal between big business and Congress when in reality it was a fairly liberal decision. Quite a large attraction of incorporation is the protection it grants individuals to risk their money and the investors' money.

Shit makes no sense Turkey

It makes perfect sense.

Sanders/Ben and Jerry are confusing corporate personhood with the Citizens United ruling.

I honestly don't see how you can tax an entity, not give it equal representation under the law, and then call it fair.