Part 4 – ” democratic government derives its just power from the people”
There’s an important misconception here that I would expect the leaders of a movement with this many people to understand, but which they clearly do not. The United States is not a “democracy,” it’s a REPUBLIC! The distinction is subtle but important.
In a Democracy, the majority (in this case supposedly 99%) can do whatever he hell they want. They’re free to trample on the rights of the minority, even a minority as large as 49%. When the majority subjugates even a numerous minority in this way, it leads to TYRANNY (as in Nazi Germany where the majority turned on the Jewish minority to catastrophic ends! It is because the founding fathers understood this danger that they chose to give is a Republic (not a democracy) which protects the rights of all citizens, especially the minority.
In this country the basic measure of justice is the Constitution, not the fact that 51% or more of the population may agree on something. If 99% of Americans decide that 1% have too much wealth, it is not allowable for the 99% to forcibly take the property of the 1% simply because there are more of them. Our Constitutional system of government includes safeguards against such injustice through limitations on federal power and guarantees of individual liberties and freedoms.
If Occupy SLC has grievances against the wealthy or corporations, then there are courts in which they can seek justice. Occupy SLC wants to go above the courts and t circumvent the justice system either because they are too lazy to formulate a proper legal argument or because their claims lack any real merit.
Whatever it is they’re trying to achieve, their numbers won’t matter much at the end of the day if what they’re asking for is not allowed by the document which governs this land. I for one say ‘thank God for that!’