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Alternative Radio for December 24, 2007
1:02 PM - 2:00 PM
[Program Website]
Today's Highlight: Richard Grossman- Rolling Back Corporate Power: Lessons From the Past
It seems that corporations have been part of the scene forever. Not the case really. An 1886 landmark Supreme Court decision elevated corporations to its current special legal status. In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, the Court ruled that a private corporation was a person and as such, under the Constitution, was protected by the Bill of Rights. The consequences of that ruling were enormous. Today, corporations stand virtually unchallenged. Such behemoths as ExxonMobil and General Electric make billions in profits and straddle the earth. In many instances their bottom line is bigger than most of the economies of countries in the UN. Sure they create
jobs and so-called wealth but at what cost? And who really benefits? Perhaps there are lessons from the past that can help us to contest corporate power today.
Richard Grossman is a top expert on law and corporations. He's the former co-director of the Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy (POCLAD) and author of "Taking Care of Business."
Alternative Radio is a weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all public radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and on short-wave on Radio for Peace International.
Established in 1986, AR is dedicated to the founding principles of public broadcasting, which urge that programming serve as "a forum for controversy and debate," be diverse and "provide a voice for groups that may otherwise be unheard." The project is entirely independent, sustained solely by individuals who buy transcripts and tapes of programs.
Its "headquarters" is situated to correspond with its position in the mainstream mass media: down an alley, behind a house, on top of a garage in Boulder, Colorado. From this rarefied location, AR's programs manage to reach over 125 radio stations and millions of listeners. AR is part of the non-profit Institute for Social and Cultural Change.
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