Stop equating corporations with humans!

Article 17 of the UDHR says that “everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others”. And everyone is equal before the law, right? This idea is one of the unwritten foundation of liberal capitalism. But it has a flaw. Perhaps this bug is the root of most of the problems facing our generation.

The phrase “as well as in association with others” is problematic. It makes us believe that an association of humans is like a human.

Associations of humans (“corporations”) are called legal persons. Most national legislation gives them the right to own things. This is the implementation of Article 17 of the UDHR.

Owning things implies the ability to trade goods and services, enter into contract withs others and introduce law suits against them. In most countries, corporations can perform these things. They are like humans.

But they aren’t human. They are merely ideas, born from the human mind, registered in a public database, granted legal personhood and given the title of legal person.

They are immortal. They outlive individual humans and can therefore become incredibly powerful. Some of them are out of control and want to rule the world.

I like to think of corporations as spirits. A spirit is an idea that exists outside of the human brain.

There are two types of spirits: altruistic and greedy. Altruistic spirits are those who serve the common good, greedy spirits are those who serve a small group of individuals.

Individual humans deserve mercy, spirits do not. A greedy spirit should not have the right to own property. If we want peace on earth, we need to act without mercy against greedy giants.