Table of Contents

Introduction
One How Did Corporations Get So Much Power?
Two From Street Fights to Empire
Three The Ultimate Reality Show
Four Why the Colonists Feared Corporations . . .
Five . . . And What They Did About It
Six The Genius
Seven Superpowers
Eight The Judge
Nine The Court Reporter
Ten The Lavender-Vested Turkey Gobbler
Eleven Survival of the Fittest
Twelve The Revolt of the Bosses
Thirteen Speech = Money
Fourteen Judicial Yoga
Fifteen Crime Wave
Sixteen Global Rule
Seventeen Fighting Back
Eighteen Intelligent, Amoral, Evolving
Nineteen So What’s the Alternative?
Appendix A Supreme Court Decisions
Appendix B The Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
Notes
Reference
Index
About the Author

About the Author

While working for the u.s. forest service during high school, Ted Nace learned about the plans of several major corporations to develop coal strip mines and other energy projects near his hometown of Dickinson, North Dakota. During graduate school, Nace worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, where he helped develop computerized simulations that demonstrated the investor and ratepayer benefits of re- placing coal-fired power plants with alternative energy programs. The EDF simulations led to the cancellation of a multi-billion-dollar coal- based power complex proposed by two California utilities. After completing his graduate studies, Nace worked for the Dakota Resource Council, a citizens' group concerned about the impacts of energy development on agriculture and rural communities.

Reviews

“An important and highly accessible book about the legal and political environments that shaped the modern corporation. Highly recommended.”
—Choice

“A joy to read . . . clear, straight-forward, and very accessible . . . one of those books that can awaken people’s consciousness.”
—Corporate Reform Weekly

“Entertaining and sometimes arresting . . . the book is a lively read, and Nace is an interesting companion.”
—New Leader

“Gangs of America is a brilliant page-turner revealing how powerful, greedy corporations wage institutional terrorism. Reading it is the first step to saving our communities, our democracy, and our planet’s environment.”
—John Stauber, coauthor of Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!

“A beautifully documented and readable history.”
—Ben H. Bagdikian, author of The Media Monopoly

“The essential guide to the history of the American corporation. Nace explodes the myth of inevitability surrounding the corporate takeover of our lives.”
—Maria Elena Martinez, executive director, CorpWatch

"An important and highly accessible book about the legal and political environments that shaped the modern corporation. Highly recommended."
-Choice

"A joy to read . . . clear, straight-forward, and very accessible . . . one of those books that can awaken people's consciousness."
-Corporate Reform Weekly

"Entertaining and sometimes arresting . . . the book is a lively read, and Nace is an interesting companion."
-New Leader

"Gangs of America is a brilliant page-turner revealing how powerful, greedy corporations wage institutional terrorism. Reading it is the first step to saving our communities, our democracy, and our planet's environment."
-John Stauber, coauthor of Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!

"A beautifully documented and readable history."
-Ben H. Bagdikian, author of The Media Monopoly

"The essential guide to the history of the American corporation. Nace explodes the myth of inevitability surrounding the corporate takeover of our lives."
-Maria Elena Martinez, executive director, CorpWatch