Slyly Stealing Sovereignty From The People

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By Bruce Morris (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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If people do not have inherent rights that cannot be taken away without their specific consent, then the people do not have any inherent power either. Rights and power are two sides of the same coin, if you will. If I lack the right to freedom, I lack the power to tell anyone, say a government, that they cannot take my freedom.

To keep this from getting esoteric, I will ground it right now. Liberal democracy is based on the premise that the people have all the power and they create governments to serve them. People first, government second as necessary and convenient to the people. Authoritarianism and especially fascism are based on the premise that the government or state has all the power and the people exist to serve the state. State first, people second as necessary and convenient to the state. Under liberal democracy, people have inherent rights that the State can only infringe to the extent it is given permission by the people. Under authoritarianism and fascism, the state has all the rights, and the people only have those rights the state gives them, subject to retraction at any time.

This is where Gonzales appears to be headed. By basing an argument on the implied premise that we lack inherent rights, he is also saying we lack inherent power. If we lack inherent rights and power, then we are subjects of our government, and they can do whatever they wish to us. They will have become true autocrats or even fascists.

Unless Gonzales just did not understand what he was saying, in which case the Bush administration is left with its usual defense against evidence of ill intent: incompetence.

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http://madnessofdivinity.blogspot.com

Bruce is 46 year-old father of one, stepfather of three and grandfather of two, who left a lucrative law practice at a large national law firm to work, advocate and write for social justice and equality and find a way to incorporate a spiritual life (more...)

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