America's concern with business has gone too far. Since the first establishment of big business and their barons of finance in the free market of frontier America we have been led by a business model of government and social relations. Everything we do is influenced by business concerns. Business rules our lives. It wields enormous political power. In our supposedly democratic nation, business is decidedly not democratic. It is an authoritarian institution. Employers can control the lives of their employees. Employees have little recourse in law to protect their jobs other than the explicitly stated anti-discrimination clauses of race, religion and gender. Is this right and good?

Businesses are treated in law as individual entities, having some rights and responsibilities, just as if they were citizens, but they don't quite have the responsibilities of citizens and they have some privileges that citizens dont have. The most influential privilege is limited liability, supposedly to protect investors and competitiveness in the market - the high risk factor of establishing and maintaining a business. The self-employed individual or partnership doesn't have this privilege. But a successful corporate business, being a group entity and having financial power, exerts an influence far beyond that of an individual citizen. They can lobby Congress with far more influence than an individual citizen. And because business concerns are limited primarily to earn a profit they may not always have the health and well-being of society as a goal as would an individual.

Our society is suffering from the rule of business. Government and social policies are dictated by business concerns. The public is treated as consumers and employees. Advertising and identification with trademarked products are so wound up in our lives that we cannot separate them from ourselves. Our social lives must revolve around these concerns rather than the proper role of social interaction. What is the responsibility of society to the individual, of the individual to it? And where should business fit in?

Could it be that it is time to examine the role of business in the social and political realms and create a new social contract wherein business must play a less significant role? We are experiencing the growth of a rampant capitalism worldwide in the demise of the competing socialist ideologies. Now international businesses elude the constraints of a nation and society. But is capitalism the answer? It arose from the monarchical and colonial mercantilist system and bears the almost feudal beliefs of its origins.

It is curious that our democracy did not foster more worker-owned businesses - an egalitarian conception. Currently, stockholders don't have an interest in the quality of product and services or of the social behavior of a business, only profit. A free market is still a very good idea, but it doesnt mean only a financial market but one of ideas as well. In a democratic nation citizens should be free to establish businesses and earn their livings as they personally see fit, but individual freedom should not be tied directly to financial concerns. Freedom is much more than the ability to earn money. It is true that those who have more money usually have more freedoms, privileges and social influence, but they should also have more responsibilities to the society commensurate with their influence. The philosophies of freedom, personal liberties and a civil society must override purely financial concerns. Businesses today have too much freedom and too little responsibility. Only individuals should have rights and equal representation in regard to government.

Therefore, I propose that incorporation and limited liability be abandoned as legal principles - that businesses not be recognized as individual entities by the state - and that businesses be forbidden to lobby the Congress and state legislatures. This would remove a powerful and unfair influence and restore the power to individuals the representation of their elected political officeholders. Liability in a business would then be by the amount an individual has ownership in it. By this individuals are again made responsible to the society for the actions of the businesses in which they have ownership. This policy would tend to curb the blatant excesses of business on the social realm and environment.

Businesses pay enormous taxes, but also are granted significant tax breaks. And business can always pass on to the consumer the cost of taxation in the price of their products and services. So I further propose that businesses be exempt from taxes. Only citizens should be taxed. This would eliminate a whole realm of expensive accounting procedures that would result in savings for everyone in the long run. Furthermore, businesses should not be eligible for any government assistance or entitlements.

If we free government from business then business might also be freed from the worst limitations of government regulations and political favoritism and be able to act in freedom in its proper sphere. Government should be concerned that business is honest and does not damage the social realm. This should include environmental concerns and the private realm of personal relationships.