Bill Moyers | How Can Ordinary People Fight Citizens United?

TRANSCRIPT:

BILL MOYERS: Many of you have asked what you can do to fight back. Here are some thoughts. First, take yourself seriously as an agent of change. The Office of Citizen remains the most important in the country.

Second, remember, there’s strength in numbers. Find others like you in your neighborhood, apartment building, community – and act together. The old African proverb is still true, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.”

They’re proving this, for example, in Missoula, Montana. Last November, by a majority of 75 percent people voted to call on the state legislature and congress to approve an amendment to the United States Constitution. It says it loud and clear, “Corporations are not human beings and do not have the same rights as citizens.” That same month, voters in Boulder, Colorado, approved a similar measure by a similar big margin. And two counties in Wisconsin have voted by whopping majorities to call for, quote, “An end to corporate personhood…” and “The legal status of money as speech.”

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Don’t worry if you’re called naíve. Don't worry about cynics who mock you or fatalists who declare that a constitutional amendment is impossible. That’s nonsense. We’ve amended the constitution 27 times in our history. Back in 1971, the amendment to lower the voting age to 18 was the quickest to be ratified in U.S history, four months following its passage by Congress. And after 13 years without a drink, in 1933, Americans okayed the amendment to repeal prohibition faster than a saloon’s swinging door.

So look around for organizations you can join or contact for information. There’s a national coalition already at work named Move to Amend it’s called and a group leading the fight called FreeSpeechforPeople.org. And see you here next time.