Tuesday, February 16, 2010

On Group Speech

The recent Supreme Court decision concerning corporate speech has liberals up in arms. "Corporations are not people" is the bumper sticker phrase that is used as a substitute for a substantive argument on the issue.

True enough, corporations are not people. But then again, lots of things are not people. Newspapers are not people. Unions are not people. The Chamber of Commerce is not a person. Neither is the PTA, the Republican Party, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Planned Parenthood.... you get the idea.

Do liberals really think that only individuals should have the right to affect elections and or policy decisions via advertisements or campaign contributions? Or is it OK that some groupings of people, such as those who own newspapers, have the right to try to sway public opinion, but that other groupings of people, such as those who own a technology company, have no such right? If so, which groupings of people have rights and which ones don't, and who decides?

No comments: