Corporations Quote by Eduardo Galeano
““MR. CORPORATION It happened in Washington in 1886. Gargantuan companies won the same legal rights as regular home-grown citizens. The Supreme Court annulled over two hundred laws that regulated or limited the activities of business, and at the same time extended human rights to private corporations. The law conferred on big companies the same rights as persons, as if they, too, breathed: the right to life, to free expression, to privacy . . . At the beginning of the twenty-first century, corporations are still humans.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Open Veins of Latin America, 1989
Corporations have been granted personhood, giving them rights similar to humans, which raises questions about their role in society.
In simple terms: Big companies are treated like people legally.
Key Takeaway
Question corporate personhood.
Themes
law
corporations
rights
society
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
philosophical
political
When to use this quote
- policy debates
- corporate governance
- public protests
Key Concepts
legal theory
political economy
Questions to Reflect On
- Should corporations have the same rights as individuals?
- What are the consequences of corporate personhood?
A Different Perspective
Granting rights can empower corporations to evade accountability.
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