Audio

Here is a brief conversation with David Cobb at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus. Cobb is an activist with MovetoAmend.org. and was the 2004 presidential candidate for the Green Party.

Movetoamend.org formed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The organization seeks to amend the US Constitution in order to abolish the legal construct of corporate personhood.

“In order to build a democratic society, we’re going to have to address the unconstitutional legal doctrine of corporate personhood. Corporations are able to overturn democratically enacted laws to protect elections, to protect the environment, to protect our safety and health, to protect workers , our food supply, water, clean air…At the end of the day, this is not just a law (for abolishing corporate personhood). It’s a legal lynchpin. It is a key to being able to create the just, compassionate and democratic society that we deserve.”

I told Cobb that some ecological thinkers, such as Richard Heinberg, reject the idea that our environmental problems would be solved simply be reigning in corporate power.

“Well, there’s no doubt about that. Reigning in corporate power or even amending the constitutions will give us the tools we need to address the problems that we have. A key problem that we have is that we are literally destroying the planet faster than it can replenish itself

“The materialistic, consumer-driven culture that is dependent on burning so-called cheap oil for energy, transportation, and even to produce to food, is going to come to an end. And we don’t have anything on the horizon to replace it. So I agree with my friend Rick Heinberg that the party is over and it’s up to us to transition to a new way of being on this planet.