Real People Have Heart
Real people have hearts, Real people have brains.
Real people like you and me have blood running in our veins.
Real people can laugh and real people can cry,
And Real people are in trouble, tell you why:
Our Supreme Court’s not very smart.
They’re having trouble telling us apart
From corporations, insane as that may seem,
But Citizens United’s is a corporation’s dream.
Money’s now in charge of our government,
Destroying our democracy, and our environment.
They need our help, to figure out
What people here are really all about.
Real people have brains, real people have hearts.
Real people don’t outsource their body parts.
We don’t have boards of directors, we don’t have CEO’s.
You can’t buy shares in people, at least, not the ones I know.
The justices seem quite confused, despite their legal skills.
They’re mixing up our right to speak, with dollar bills.
Real people don’t have fleets, of private jets.
And the government don’t bail out our private debts.
And when we call our congressmen, they don’t pick up the phone.
We don’t have any justices or lobbyists to call our own.
We can’t afford those ads, you see on TV,
Elections run by aliens, not people like you and me.
Real people can’t be liquidated or dissolved.
And what’s more, with no revolving door, real people don’t revolve.
Our purpose isn’t maximizing profits for you,
Our voice in our own government is long overdue.
KAZOO
Real people don’t get rich from going off to war,
But it’s you and me Democracy’s supposed to be good for!
The justices seem quite confused, despite their legal skills.
They’re mixing up our right to speak, with dollar bills.
Real people eat food, and we go to school.
And most people really live by the golden rule.
It’s really not so hard, telling us apart
From corporations, real people have heart.
Real people have brains, real people have heart.
Words & Music ©Doug Hendren 2012
[Illustration: Norman Rockwell, “Freedom of Speech”]
What’s it about? Since 2010, it has been perfectly legal to bribe politicians in the United States, as outlined in this 12-minute video.
The 2010 “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision upholds the twin doctrines that “Corporations are people” and “Money is speech.” This disastrous ruling has crippled our electoral process and brought shame upon the Supreme Court, as predicted by Justice Stevens: The dissent argued that the Court’s ruling “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.” He wrote: “A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.” The Citizens United ruling has led to the current blight on our US politics, the Superpac. This structure allow unlimited, unidentified funding of political candidates by corporate entities, and by foreign governments as well. It directly undermines investment in our society, education, health, financial security, and any other contributor to today’s well-being or tomorrow’s survival. Fortunately, several well-organized efforts are currently underway to undo the effects of this disastrous court decision. This is about nothing less than saving American democracy. As of 2012, seven states have called for a constitutional amendment against “corporate personhood”. Find out more at https://movetoamend.org/
