Just thought I'd address some of the finer points of it.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors;Very true.
that a democratic government derives its just power from the people,All governments do. This is the nature of governments.
but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the EarthActually, yes they do, in the form of contracts. It's not like BOA is breaking into your house and stealing from your cookie jar. If you take out a loan, you have contractually agreed (consented) to the terms of that loan. These terms typically involve transfers of capital.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure processForeclosure is by definition a legal process. It is generally enacted for failure to pay a loan under the terms of that loan agreement.
, despite not having the original mortgage.I'm pretty sure most of those agreements stipulate that a lender may transfer the loan to a third party.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity,In many cases, financial institutions were forced by the government to take these bailouts under duress. Even where that is not the case, this anger is misdirected. I'm as pissed about corporate bailouts as the next guy, but the problem is not with companies that are acting in self interest, but with a government that is not acting in the interest of the people. Not only shouldn't the federal government have the authority to provide welfare to corporations, but it in fact doesn't.
and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.As they are contractually obligated.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.We have farm subsidies to thank for much of this. The rest, is simply a matter of market forces. Pesticides and modified crops are employed in order to ensure market demands are met. If market demands are not met, people go hungry. Sure, it would be nice to only eat locally grown organic foods, but I'm betting there would be quite a bit of starvation if that suddenly became the only option. Pesticides may give me cancer in 30 years, but I'll be dead in a week without food.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.Seeing as how animals hold little information of value, and haven't the means to communicate it, and how punishing them is rarely in the interest of a business, I'm guessing corporate animal torture is not widespread. Confinement, and cruel treatment... ok, but I'll not get in to weighing the benefits of such treatment.
Hiding these practices? Of course they do. We all hide our less attractive habits; do you want them to display it out in public?
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.A contract invariably requires at least two parties. The military and the courts are the only entities that can demand labor without the consent of the second party. Corporations have no such authority.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.This could mean a couple of things but my cursory search revealed no elaboration. Assuming they mean companies that profit from personal information, we must inquire how they obtained that information. Did they break into your house and steal your high school yearbook? Did they hack into your personal computer and download your address book? Or did you give it to them under the terms of use for a service they provided?
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.Solution: Stop creating economic policy. A free market will self regulate. Intelligent design requires an omnipotent, or at least intelligent designer. Government ineptitude requires that we employ economic natural selection else a sustainable financial ecosystem is not even remotely possible.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.This is called free speech. Individuals do it too.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.Block it? In what way? I see alternative forms of energy all over the place. The fact that they aren't providing it probably has more to do with the viability of those forms. We are dependent on oil because the cost of replacing our infrastructure (to include vehicles, fueling stations, power plants, etc.) greatly outweighs the potential benefits of discontinuing it's use.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.Damn that freedom of speech.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.No shit? You mean military weapon systems don't materialize out of thin air?
Protesters, many of your concerns are legitimate, but grossly misdirected. You have the right to assemble and petition for a redress of grievances, but please reconsider who you are petitioning. These corporations have no motivation to hear your pleas, and ultimately are not the problem. Solutions can be found in free market principles; the appropriate course of action is remove the authority of the government to direct market forces.
