Hearing the living presidents read the Gettysburg Address reminded me how fundamental the idea is that governments exist to serve us.
"We the people," begins the preamble to the Constitution. "That government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth" spoken four score and seven years later underlines what the nation stands for. When President Lincoln spoke those words, the government was threatened by an insurgency that denied personhood to people of color, excluding them from "we the people" throughout much of the South. Today, our government and these basic principles are threatened in a different way, but the issue of personhood is still central, namely giving rights to non-persons — corporations — making them part of "we the people."
That threatens the health of our democracy, which depends on citizens participating in government, voting, serving in the military, sacrificing for the good of all. Corporations have no loyalty or allegiance to our country, are often beholden to foreign investors and cannot vote, serve in the military, run for office or feel national pride. But they can flood elections with money and undercut real citizens' most fundamental right — voting. Corporate money can overwhelm the voices of "we the people" and open the door to pay-to-play government.
A constitutional amendment can ensure the rights and privileges of citizenship belong only to people, not corporations. That is worth fighting for.
Anthony M. Cresswell
Altamont