Reclaiming the Republic

A movement of economic and cultural nationalism confronts corporate power

On July 4, 1776, imperfectly selected representatives of thirteen English colonies in North America gathered to declare their independence and their political separation from Great Britain. They put forth what they considered self-evident truths: “All men are created equal . . . [and] . . . they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.” Furthermore, they declared that whenever any government becomes destructive of these rights, “it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government,” in accordance with the principle that governments “[derive] their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

This modern formulation, guided by the teachings of the ancient prophets, provided the foundation for constitutions that abolished or effectively checked feudal privileges. In addition, the concept was appropriated by the people’s revolutions of the world during the twentieth century. The 1776 American Declaration of Independence was quoted by…