United States
£ GBP
Corporations rule the world, claims Thom Hartmann, and they are despoiling it for profit. He traces the historical friction between individual rights and the corporation, culminating in a landmark 1886 court case. Since then corporations have steadily acquired power, shifted an unfair share of the tax burden, taken control of the media, and co-opted the regulatory process for their own purposes, according to Hartmann. Hartmann cites examples of the absurd and frightening power: sterile streams and undrinkable water, poisonous neighbourhoods, deathtrap trucks for an extra US$ 2 in profit. To end the abuses, Hartmann calls for a grassroots revolution He says it's time to understand the true costs of our consumerist society, take back the government and shift to a values-based economy. Pre-drafted legal templates encourage individuals to begin work at the local level.
"Hartmann combines a remarkable piece of historical research with a brilliant literary style to tell the grand story of corporate corruption and its consequences for society with the force and readability of a great novel."
- David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World
