So the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Hobby Lobby and any other company who wishes to not provide insurance for contraception and the like. This was a bad decision and harmful to the country. Ignoring for the moment religious zealots, many of those who are applauding this decision are looking at it through a purely political lens - they dislike Obamacare (a perfectly valid opinion) or Obama himself (another perfectly valid opinion) and view any move to undo what has been done as a positive one. There are also those who view this decision as a victory against an overreach of the Federal Government and the Executive Branch. I submit that that is the wrong lens through which to view this decision. This is not - or shouldnt be - a case of curbing Government overreach; this is all about the power of corporations and their ability to dictate the lives of United States citizens. This ruling opens the door for any corporation to ignore any regulation designed to benefit the worker if they can claim that doing so would violate a sincerely held belief, or whatever ridiculous judicial standard has been set. They can now say We will only comply with those laws we agree with, and that opens the door to corporate malfeasance on a heretofore unimaginable scale. The answer to the question of whom should a society protect has always been they that need protecting the most. Corporations do NOT need protection from the Government nearly as much as We the People need protection from the corporate world. History is so replete with stories of abuse of corporatocracy and plutocracy, ignoring the basic needs of its employees until they are - unwillingy - forced by law to accommodate them that it is almost a proverb. That the Supreme Court forgot or ignored the wisdom of history is disappointing and galling.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:01:39 +0000
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