Unequal protection : the rise of corporate dominance and the theft of human rights / Thom Hartmann

Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-341) and index.

The nature of community, values, and government -- The values we choose to live by -- Banding together for the common good : corporations, government, and the commons -- From the birth of American democracy through the birth of corporate personhood -- The Boston Tea Party revealed -- Jefferson's dream : the Bill of Rights -- The early role of corporations in America -- The deciding moment -- The corporate conquest of America -- Transnational corporations : the ghost of the East India Company rises again -- Unequal consequences -- Unequal uses for the Bill of Rights -- Unequal regulation -- Unequal protection from risk -- Unequal taxes -- Unequal responsibility for crime -- Unequal privacy -- Unequal citizenship and access to the commons -- Unequal wealth : unequal trade -- Unequal media -- Unequal influence -- Capitalists and Americans speak out for community -- Restoring democracy as the founders imagined it -- End corporate personhood -- A new entrepreneurial boom -- A democratic marketplace -- Restoring the global dream of government of, by, and for the people -- Our first steps forward -- A message from the President of the United States -- Revoking corporate personhood FAQ -- Model ordinances to rescind corporate personhood -- Constitutional amendments for each state.

Unequal taxes, unequal accountability for crime, unequal influence, unequal privacy, and unequal access to natural resources and our commons-- these inequalities and more are the effects of corporations winning the rights of persons while simultaneously being given the legal protections to avoid the responsibilities that come with these rights. Hartmann tells the intriguing story of how it got this way-- from the colonists' rebellion against the commercial interests of the British elite to the distorted application of the Fourteenth Amendment-- and how to get back to a government of, by, and for the people. From Unequal Protection: "...over the past two centuries, those playing the corporate game at the very highest levels seem to have won a victory for themselves-- a victory that is turning bitter in the mouths of many of the six billion humans on planet Earth. It's even turning bitter in unexpected ways for those who won it, as they find their own lives and families touched by an increasingly toxic environment, fragile and top-heavy economy, and hollow culture-- all traceable back to the frenetic systems of big business that resulted from the doctrine that corporations are persons."