0:00:07.057,0:00:11.419 In season 1 of The Story of Stuff,[br]we looked at a system that 0:00:11.419,0:00:15.109 creates way too much stuff, and [br]way too little of what we really want. 0:00:15.109,0:00:18.071 Now we're going to start looking at [br]the stories behind the Story of Stuff. 0:00:18.071,0:00:28.419 That's where we'll find ways [br]to turn this situation around. 0:00:28.419,0:00:29.529 Welcome to Season 2! 0:00:29.529,0:00:35.379 "Bad for you, bad for America!"[br]"He'll put us back on track." 0:00:35.379,0:00:38.005 "... ran our state into the ground, now he wants to [br]be your senator." "Stand up! Say No!" 0:00:38.005,0:00:44.047 "Stand up and say no!" "Bad for you, bad for [br]America!" "Vote for this guy!" "Vote for this guy!" 0:00:44.047,0:00:47.008 Aren't you tired of this stuff? 0:00:47.008,0:00:52.058 Why is it that every election season, it becomes [br]impossible to hear the facts over all these 0:00:52.058,0:00:53.096 misleading ads? 0:00:53.096,0:00:57.058 And if it seems the problem is only getting[br]worse, that's because it is. 0:00:57.058,0:01:00.065 We can thank the Supreme Court for that. 0:01:00.065,0:01:04.119 In 2010, they decided that [br]it'd be just fine 0:01:04.119,0:01:08.071 for corporations to spend as much money as they[br]want telling us who to vote for. 0:01:08.071,0:01:09.043 Wait, 0:01:09.043,0:01:12.017 why are corporations telling us who to vote for? 0:01:12.017,0:01:13.061 Let's get something straight. 0:01:13.061,0:01:17.015 This is a democracy,[br]you know rule by the people? 0:01:17.015,0:01:20.002 I'm a person. You're a person. And Chevron? 0:01:20.002,0:01:21.082 Not a person. 0:01:21.082,0:01:24.055 So shouldn't elections be [br]all about what people want? 0:01:24.055,0:01:28.031 Good Jobs. Safe products. Healthcare.[br]Responsible Government. 0:01:28.031,0:01:29.094 Clean air and water. 0:01:29.094,0:01:35.017 It turns out that the vast majority of Americans[br]want to see a lot more done on all of these things. 0:01:35.017,0:01:39.055 But what people want will take a backseat[br]as long as corporations can spend millions 0:01:39.055,0:01:42.000 getting lawmakers elected. 0:01:42.000,0:01:46.036 Oil companies have gotten politicians to block[br]laws protecting our climate. 0:01:46.036,0:01:52.001 Manufacturers have pushed through trade agreements[br]that gut product safety and help ship jobs overseas. 0:01:52.001,0:01:55.087 Insurance companies have been the first ones[br]consulted on health reform and giant corporations 0:01:55.087,0:01:58.092 have gotten bail-outs and subsidies. 0:01:58.092,0:02:03.085 Maybe that's why all kinds of people - Republicans,[br]Democrats, Independents -- are totally frustrated 0:02:03.085,0:02:07.026 with our government. [br](Angry Crowd yelling) 0:02:07.026,0:02:08.769 It's easy to get angry. 0:02:08.769,0:02:13.489 But it's time we got smart and realized that the[br]heart of our problem is not that we have bad 0:02:13.489,0:02:17.519 lawmakers. We have a democracy in crisis. 0:02:17.519,0:02:21.829 85% of Americans feel that corporations [br]have too much power in our democracy 0:02:21.829,0:02:23.429 and people have too little. 0:02:23.429,0:02:25.159 85 percent! 0:02:25.159,0:02:30.759 Hey, that's a majority. So let's get together [br]and take our democracy back from corporations. 0:02:30.759,0:02:35.039 It's the first and most important step in[br]making real progress on all the issues 0:02:35.039,0:02:37.048 people care most about. 0:02:37.048,0:02:41.919 So how did "we the people" lose control [br]of our democracy to begin with? 0:02:41.919,0:02:43.189 Let's go back a few centuries. 0:02:43.189,0:02:45.029 Back then there were just people. 0:02:45.029,0:02:48.619 Some of them owned businesses. [br]Some of them worked for businesses. 0:02:48.619,0:02:54.539 Still, there were just people. Then people invented [br]something entirely new -- the corporation. 0:02:54.539,0:02:58.619 These legal entities exist independently[br]of the people who own them. 0:02:58.619,0:03:02.909 If a corporation does something that gets it into[br]trouble, the owners can say, don't blame me, 0:03:02.909,0:03:06.639 blame the corporation. I'm just a shareholder! 0:03:06.639,0:03:08.999 When the United States came into existence, 0:03:08.999,0:03:11.029 corporations were easier to keep in check. 0:03:11.029,0:03:12.049 Back then, 0:03:12.049,0:03:15.939 the government would grant them charters for[br]a specific short-term project, like building a 0:03:15.939,0:03:17.669 bridge or a railroad. 0:03:17.669,0:03:20.449 Once they fulfilled their purpose,[br]they were disbanded. 0:03:20.449,0:03:25.599 But over time, the law changed and corporations no [br]longer had to be turned off once their project was 0:03:25.599,0:03:26.349 complete. 0:03:26.349,0:03:28.969 They began to live on indefinitely, 0:03:28.969,0:03:30.969 with a much more general purpose, 0:03:30.969,0:03:32.004 profit. 0:03:32.004,0:03:35.549 And that's how the modern corporation[br]was born. 0:03:35.549,0:03:40.319 Today's corporations have evolved to have something[br]very dangerous in their programming. 0:03:40.319,0:03:43.219 Unlike people, who are driven by all kinds[br]of motivations -- 0:03:43.219,0:03:47.239 doing the right thing, love for family,[br]their country, the planet -- 0:03:47.239,0:03:51.047 publicly traded corporations are now required,[br]by law and the markets, to pursue one single 0:03:51.047,0:03:53.489 motivation above all others. 0:03:53.489,0:03:55.229 Maximize value for shareholders -- 0:03:55.229,0:03:57.319 make as much money as possible. 0:03:57.319,0:03:57.096 That's it. 0:03:57.096,0:04:02.019 No, really, that's what the law[br]and the markets demand. 0:04:02.019,0:04:05.169 Imagine a friend saying[br]"The only thing I really care about is money." 0:04:05.169,0:04:09.809 Not someone you'd want to leave your kids[br]with, or your democracy for that matter. 0:04:09.809,0:04:12.459 Yes, it is people who run these corporations 0:04:12.459,0:04:14.809 but their human motivations come second. 0:04:14.809,0:04:19.069 If they prioritize anything at all over[br]maximizing profits, they're outta there. 0:04:19.069,0:04:23.074 Can corporate leaders do good things like[br]give to charity or try to be more green? 0:04:23.074,0:04:27.589 Sure. But not if it conflicts with maximum profits. 0:04:27.589,0:04:31.169 And since their humble beginnings,[br]corporations have grown huge. 0:04:31.169,0:04:35.629 53 of the 100 biggest economies[br]on earth are now corporations. 0:04:35.629,0:04:40.033 So corporations have a [br]single-minded profit motive. 0:04:40.033,0:04:41.589 They're humungous. And their owners can 0:04:41.589,0:04:44.439 easily dodge the blame for any harm they cause. 0:04:44.439,0:04:47.024 That makes them tricky to share a country with. 0:04:47.024,0:04:52.449 If we want them to serve us and not the other [br]way around, they need some basic ground rules. 0:04:52.449,0:04:54.649 And that's where the government comes in, 0:04:54.649,0:04:58.047 setting rules to keep things fair and safe[br]and to protect society from 0:04:58.047,0:05:00.379 corporations run amok. 0:05:00.379,0:05:04.829 Now if their main objective is to maximize[br]profit, do you think corporations are content 0:05:04.829,0:05:07.449 to follow rules that keep them in check? 0:05:07.449,0:05:13.639 No, of course not. [br]They want to write those rules.[br][br]0:05:10.879,0:05:13.639[br]But who is supposed to write[br]the rules in a democracy? 0:05:13.639,0:05:15.005 People. 0:05:15.005,0:05:19.034 That's why one of the corporations' key [br]strategies for sneaking into our democracy 0:05:19.034,0:05:24.139 is saying they should have the same First[br]Amendment rights as real, live people. 0:05:24.139,0:05:28.055 And that's exactly how they won that 2010[br]Supreme Court case known as 0:05:28.055,0:05:31.000 Citizens United vs. FEC. 0:05:31.000,0:05:35.039 In that case, five members of the Supreme Court[br]decided that it's unconstitutional 0:05:35.039,0:05:39.909 to put any limits on how much money corporations[br]can spend influencing elections. 0:05:39.909,0:05:45.056 Why? They said these limits violate the first[br]amendment guaranteeing free speech. 0:05:45.056,0:05:49.005 Obviously our founding fathers who wrote [br]the first amendment were trying to protect 0:05:49.005,0:05:50.919 the free speech of people. 0:05:50.919,0:05:54.099 But this decision rides on the crazy argument that[br]corporations should be treated the same as 0:05:54.099,0:05:58.289 people and should get the [br]same rights real people get! 0:05:58.289,0:06:02.669 This means corporations can spend as much [br]as they want, whenever they want to intimidate 0:06:02.669,0:06:05.097 or crush candidates running on a[br]platform against their interests 0:06:05.097,0:06:08.699 and support candidates who will do what they ask. 0:06:08.699,0:06:12.619 Great news for corporations wanting to[br]handpick the lawmakers whose job it is 0:06:12.619,0:06:13.349 to keep them in check. 0:06:13.349,0:06:15.629 Now, I'm all for free speech! 0:06:15.629,0:06:19.062 If every shareholder and employee at Exxon [br]wants to personally support some oil lobbyist 0:06:19.062,0:06:22.038 running for senate, it's their right. 0:06:22.038,0:06:24.096 There are millions more people who [br]will support a different candidate. 0:06:24.096,0:06:27.279 That's democracy in action! 0:06:27.279,0:06:32.005 But now Exxon or any other corporation, can[br]decide to spend unlimited dollars from its 0:06:32.005,0:06:34.061 huge corporate coffers to influence an election, 0:06:34.061,0:06:37.119 without even consulting its shareholders. 0:06:37.119,0:06:39.011 This is a big deal. 0:06:39.011,0:06:43.071 If the top 100 corporations decided [br]to throw in just 1% of their profits, 0:06:43.071,0:06:48.159 they could outspend every candidate [br]for president, house and senate combined! 0:06:48.159,0:06:51.219 Good luck having your free speech[br]heard over that! 0:06:51.219,0:06:55.000 So did opening the floodgates on this money[br]actually cause a flood? 0:06:55.000,0:06:56.002 Sure did. 0:06:56.002,0:06:57.015 In 2010, 0:06:57.015,0:07:01.085 the kind of "independent groups" that [br]corporations are now allowed to support, 0:07:01.085,0:07:03.389 spent $300 million. 0:07:03.389,0:07:08.024 That's more than every midterm[br]election since 1990 combined! 0:07:08.024,0:07:10.004 So corporations are drowning out our voices, 0:07:10.004,0:07:13.659 getting what they want and [br]our democracy is in trouble. 0:07:13.659,0:07:15.999 But we can totally save it! 0:07:15.999,0:07:21.159 People are so outraged by the Supreme Court [br]Decision that a massive response is mobilizing. 0:07:21.159,0:07:23.078 Such a huge problem requires a huge solution 0:07:23.078,0:07:25.099 and we've got one, 0:07:25.099,0:07:27.369 a new constitutional amendment. 0:07:27.369,0:07:32.539 The amendment is smart and clear. It reverses this[br]disaster to our democracy by clarifying that 0:07:32.539,0:07:36.759 the first amendment isn't meant[br]for for-profit corporations. 0:07:36.759,0:07:40.169 I get that amending the constitution[br]is a big, ambitious goal. 0:07:40.169,0:07:42.469 But it's not impossible. 0:07:42.469,0:07:45.389 Every time huge positive change has been made in[br]this country, 0:07:45.389,0:07:49.959 it's because people dreamed big,[br]aimed high, and set ambitious goals. 0:07:49.959,0:07:51.749 It's time to do that now, 0:07:51.749,0:07:55.509 because the life of our [br]democracy is on the line. 0:07:55.509,0:07:59.119 Public Financing of campaigns would[br]be another huge step forward. 0:07:59.119,0:08:01.749 Congress is working on a bill right now [br]that would make it possible for candidates 0:08:01.749,0:08:04.009 to get elected without corporate dollars. 0:08:04.009,0:08:08.033 Remember, 85% of Americans think that[br]corporations have too much influence 0:08:08.033,0:08:09.087 in our democracy. 0:08:09.087,0:08:11.045 That's enough to make change, 0:08:11.045,0:08:14.249 if we can turn that sentiment into action. 0:08:14.249,0:08:19.109 Look, the corporations won't get out of our [br]democracy until we, the people, get back in. 0:08:19.109,0:08:24.479 So keep fighting for renewable energy, green [br]jobs, health care, safe products and top-notch 0:08:24.479,0:08:25.819 public education. 0:08:25.819,0:08:28.689 But save some energy for [br]the battle of our lifetimes. 0:08:28.689,0:08:32.219 ...A battle that can open the door[br]to solving all of these things. 0:08:32.219,9:59:59.000 It's time to put corporations back in their place[br]and to put people back in charge of our democracy.