written 9
June 2018
published 16 June 2018
Corporate personhood is an insane
fiction of our times.
Wells Fargo is in the news again,
with the potential of a $1B administrative judgment by the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CPFB), the third action in three years. In 2016 Wells Fargo was found to have created
3.5 million accounts without their customers knowledge. The CPFB judgment was a
fine of $185M, which amounts to $53 for each bogus account. Evidence shows that Wells Fargo was not
deterred from committing further illegal actions. When there are no real consequences to illegal
behavior, there is loss of moral standard.
A real person convicted of a crime in
a judicial court can be jailed, sometimes for life. Depending on circumstances, a negligent
action can result in a court judgment to repay damages, provide compensation
for pain and suffering, and restitution for any permanent economic loss. If found guilty of intent to commit the
crime, punitive damages may also be awarded.
A jailed person has no further employment
income. If they are unable to pay their
bills, the holder of a secured loan can foreclose, forcing the sale of the
asset to retire the loan. The remainder
of the defendant's assets, including bank accounts and securities, are
liquidated to pay any judgments, so unsecured loans can be a complete loss to
the lender. Employees of the defendant lose
their jobs.
If corporations expect the benefits
of being a person, shouldn't they be held responsible for their actions as a
person? In this example, it would start
with a motion for a temporary restraining order to revoke the Corporate Charter
of Wells Fargo, and initiate judicial proceedings. The CFPB showed Wells Fargo created 3.5
million accounts, accruing fees without their customers knowledge, which
constitutes fraud. If judged guilty in a
court of law, the Charter could be revoked, preventing Wells Fargo from doing
further business, similar to going to jail for a period of time. A judicial sentence of one day of jail time
per fraudulent account would be more than 9,500 years.
A judgement of $1000 per fraud, for
economic damages, and pain and suffering due to a loss in customer credit
rating, would total $3.5B. Since fraud
is by definition an intentional act, punitive damages may be awarded. This fraud was one of several, so the bank is
a repeat offender, showing no remorse. A
factor of 100 times real damages is reasonable as a deterrent and an example to
the larger industry, for an additional judgement of $350B.
Wikipedia lists Wells equity value at
$207B. After secured assets were sold to
satisfy mortgage holders, the rest of the equity would go toward covering the
judgment. Stockholders, holding
unsecured loans, would lose everything. Wells
Fargo's employees (more than 250,000 real people) would be laid off. All bank accounts, which belong to the
accountholders, would have to be transferred to another bank.
In the Wells Fargo case, no one
died, but many people die as a result of corporate activities. I have seen a bumper sticker reading "I
will believe corporations are people when Texas executes one". In the 70s, researchers for Exxon-Mobile, headquartered
in Texas, discovered that continued burning of their product would raise global
temperatures, putting humanity at risk. To
protect their business, Exxon chose to bury the research and fund climate
denial, making them accessory to deaths due to climate change. Such calculated mass murder by a real person
could get them executed.
Since corporations, like zombies,
aren't actually alive, killing one is problematic. A quick Internet search
shows zombies can be killed by destroying their brains. The brain of a corporation could be described
as the Board of Directors and Operating Officers. They would be judged for their part in the
corporate person, not because of any culpability as individuals. Execute them and the corporation is dead. Execute even one corporation, and business
ethics would immediately improve.
Real people don't have limited
liability for their actions, why should corporate people? Even the threat of taking legal action
against a corporation as a person would reveal that corporations are "fake"
people, unwilling to be as responsible as real people, and end the insanity of
corporate personhood "rights".
