Corporation says it will run for Congress

[Amaroq]

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/...n-for-congress/

I don't know if this is real or not. But either way, for amusement's sake, I want to see this happen. xD I don't necessarily care if the corp wins. I just want to see the publicity stunt and all the uproar it creates.

EDIT: Oops, I wanted to post this in current events.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Amaroq

[Robert J. Kolker]

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/...n-for-congress/

I don't know if this is real or not. But either way, for amusement's sake, I want to see this happen. xD I don't necessarily care if the corp wins. I just want to see the publicity stunt and all the uproar it creates.

EDIT: Oops, I wanted to post this in current events.

A corporation is neither a natural born nor a naturalized citizen, therefore it is not eligible to hold office. Since corporations are not born (as are human persons) their ages cannot be ascertained as your age or mine is.

Bob Kolker

[nanite1018]

A corporation is neither a natural born nor a naturalized citizen, therefore it is not eligible to hold office. Since corporations are not born (as are human persons) their ages cannot be ascertained as your age or mine is.

Bob Kolker

Well, they are "born" in that they are founded. A the Supreme Court stated they have a right to free speech because they are simply a group organized by many citizens, and thus have all the rights that they have to speak, etc. So I'm not certain that they cannot. Also, their CEO, and Board of Directors all do have ages, as well as do their stockholders. So since the people who control the company almost certainly are over the age of 25, as are the majority of shareholders, it isn't inconceivable that they may be considered to have the right to hold office.

More importantly, I see no reason why a corporation might not run its own candidate for public office, financing his campaign, and maintain him on the payroll while he is in office (unless this is illegal, though I think it may simply be looked down upon, not sure). Even if it is illegal, he can simply leave to go to the job, and then come back to his original position at the company at the end of his tenure in office.

No matter what, this is amusing.

[CapitalistSwine]

I am a bit confused on the objectivist position on this via the free speech thing among other things. Could someone point me to an explanation on the details of this from an Objectivist perspective? Not specifically this situation, but if corporations should be treated as human beings (i.e. citizens) with rights fleshed out appropriately and so forth.

[TheEgoist]

A corporation is neither a natural born nor a naturalized citizen, therefore it is not eligible to hold office. Since corporations are not born (as are human persons) their ages cannot be ascertained as your age or mine is.

Bob Kolker

Don't need to be naturally born.

[Alexandros]

I am a bit confused on the objectivist position on this via the free speech thing among other things. Could someone point me to an explanation on the details of this from an Objectivist perspective? Not specifically this situation, but if corporations should be treated as human beings (i.e. citizens) with rights fleshed out appropriately and so forth.

http://forum.ObjectivismOnline.com/index.p...rate+personhood

[Robert J. Kolker]

Don't need to be naturally born.

I meant as in born of a human mother. A flesh and blood person.

Can the qualifications of office pertain to an entity whose existence is a legal artifact, rather than a natural fact?

Bob Kolker

[Alexandros]

I meant as in born of a human mother. A flesh and blood person.

Can the qualifications of office pertain to an entity whose existence is a legal artifact, rather than a natural fact?

Bob Kolker

So you mean I can't run for office because my mother is a cyborg?

Curse my father and his robot lust!

Edited February 14, 2010 by Alexandros

[aequalsa]

I wonder if this would present a conflict of interest between the fiduciary responsibility of the company and the the oath of office they take. In other words, if a pavement company were voting on a roads based infrastructure bill, how could they vote without a serious conflict of interest?