Corporate America's Newest Scheme To Deprive You Of Your Constitutional Rights

Corporate America is always busy coming up with new ways to cover its own behind, at the expense of everyday people. If they aren't buying off politicians, bribing Supreme Court Justices or collaborating with other criminals at an ALEC convention, you can rest assured they're doing something else to ensure their rights trump that of the average American citizen.

Why you should beware of free offers on the web.

Almost everyone has, at one time or another, used a coupon, entered a sweepstakes or just visited a corporate website for product information. What you may not know is that doing those things could constitute an agreement to give up your legal right to sue that corporation, in a court of law. 

In mid April, the New York Times reported that General Mills had quietly changed it's policies, adding language that constitutes an agreement between the user and the company. By visiting the company's website, downloading a coupon, participating in a promotion or even liking their page on facebook, the new policy states that the user is entering into an agreement to settle any dispute related to the purchase of any General Mills product, out of court. 

As if that's not bad enough, General Mills new policy crosses the line into crazy town. According to the company's new policy, the mere of act of purchasing any of the company's products also constitutes an agreement not to sue them for any injury or harm. 

“Please note we also have new legal terms which require all disputes related to the purchase or use of any General Mills product or service to be resolved through binding arbitration.”

According to this policy, if you buy a product from General Mills in good faith, but later suffer injury, you're out of luck. If there is rat feces in your Cheerios, for example, and your entire family is hospitalized because of it, you will be required to settle your dispute through binding arbitration. 

In other words, you forfeit your legal and Constitutional rights to seek punitive damages in a court of law, if you consume any product sold by General Mills.

The 2011 Supreme Court decision you probably didn't hear about

In 2011, the US Supreme Court allowed corporations the right to deny you the right to sue them. The ruling means it's now possible for businesses like General Mills to create and enforce the kinds of 'agreements' the company put in place in April. 

Since that decision, more and more corporations are adopting these types of policies, designed to undermine consumer rights and protections under the law. By purchasing a product, liking a website, subscribing to an email list or even stepping onto a corporation's property, you may be unknowingly giving up all of your rights under the law.

The advancing corporate agenda includes buying our political system, dismantling consumer rights and protections,  eliminating local, state and federal agencies that provide regulation and oversight, getting rid of minimum wage and overturning worker's rights, among other things. It's not hard to see the direction we are heading, and it's frightening to realize how fast our rights are being eliminated.

Corporations are interested in protecting their own interests, increasing profits and lowering costs. It does not take a genius to figure out that protecting the consumer is the last thing on their agenda.

image credit Steve-Lovelace.com http://steve-lovelace.com/corporate-feudalism-the-end-of-nation-states/