History lesson

The editor’s grasp of American history for the April 25 editorial is somewhat lacking. “Corporations are people, too, you know,” is a misleading statement. The American Revolution was fought because of the misuse of the colonies by The Virginian Company and other private charters under the British government. Early corporations in the colonies were chartered by, and at the will of, each colony. Any charter could be revoked by the will of the people for not being in the public good.

It was not until 1877 when the Supreme Court, not the Legislature, declared that corporations had all the rights of a blood-and-flesh citizen. It has been under some contention ever since. Some laws have gone so far as to declare that the sole purpose of a corporation is to make a profit for its stockholders, not to serve the public good.

This personhood of the corporation was one of the actions that brought on the downfall of the nation’s economic system. Coupled with consumerism, legal corporate greed has made a radically different system of production and distribution necessary.

The nation needs to return to its American roots and make corporations serve the people.

Bill Ellis, Rangeley