Kicking Corporations' Legs Out From Under Them

Look at the obstacles blocking just about any progressive cause you favor and you'll find the political power of corporations behind them. Corporations own the political process in the United States and through its agencies, exert undue influence on the rest of the world. You can't fight corporations in government head on.

The key to winning is to change the rules so that corporations lose the ability to buy government. There are two practices that need to change: (1) corporations should not be granted Bill of Rights protections; (2) political spending should not be considered an exercise in free speech. ReclaimDemocracy.org is an organization dedicated to the long, slow process of educating and influencing American citizens, with the eventual goal of passing three constitutional amendments. They operate on a shoe-string budget, with no government or corporate funding, and they're desperately behind in their fund-raising efforts. In this election season, don't let short-term imperatives crowd out the long view.

Jeremy Lyon is a freelance writer, tech industry cube farmer and the publisher of Futurismic, a site for people interested in the future and the effects of science and technology on the present, now featuring original fiction.