Truthout is proud to bring you an exclusive series from America’s No. 1 progressive radio host, Thom Hartmann. We’ll be publishing weekly installments of Hartmann’s much-lauded book, “Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became ‘People’ and How You Can Fight Back.” Join us as, chapter by chapter, we delve into issues of corporate power, popular resistance and the nature of democracy itself.
Introduction: The Battle to Save Democracy
Part I: Corporations Take Over
Part II: From the Birth of American Democracy through the Birth of Corporate Personhood
Chapter Three: Banding Together for the Common Good
Chapter Four: The Boston Tea Party Revealed
Chapter Five: Jefferson Versus the Corporate Aristocracy
Chapter Six: The Early Role of Corporations in America
Chapter Seven: The People’s Masters
Chapter Eight: Corporations Go Global
Chapter Nine: The Court Takes the Presidency
Part III: Unequal Consequences
Chapter Twelve: Unequal Uses for the Bill of Rights
Chapter Thirteen: Unequal Regulation
Chapter Fourteen: Unequal Protection from Risk
Chapter Fifteen: Unequal Taxes
Chapter Sixteen: Unequal Responsibility for Crime
Chapter Seventeen: Unequal Privacy
Chapter Eighteen: Unequal Citizenship and Access to the Commons
Chapter Nineteen: Unequal Wealth
Chapter Twenty-One: Unequal Media
Chapter Twenty-Two: Unequal Influence
Chapter Twenty-Three: Capitalists and Americans Speak Out for Community
Chapter Twenty-Four: End Corporate Personhood
Chapter Twenty-Five: A New Entrepreneurial Boom
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Democratic Marketplace
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Restoring Government, of, by, and for the People
Copyright Thom Hartmann and Mythical Research, Inc. Truthout has obtained exclusive rights to reprint this content. It may not be reproduced, and is not covered by our Creative Commons license.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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