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scope, virtually escap- ing the ability of any o n e g o v e r n m e n t to regulate or con- trol them. They even have gained e n o u g h i n f l u e n c e among justices of the Supreme Court of the United States to be declared not only inde- pendent entities — which was the intent of establishing corporations in the first place — but entities vested with the same rights as individuals, including the freedoms of speech and religion. The effect of these griev- ous grants has been to magnify the outsized influence of corporations in the makeup and conduct of our representative government, to the extent that Congress has become a virtual fiefdom of the oligarchy. The aggregation of wealth has led to a new superclass of billionaires, whose motivation is accumulating more and more wealth. Scant concern is evinced by them for the health and welfare of the nation. The 56 signers of t he Declaration of Independence challenged a ruling overclass, denying it any continued right to control the affairs of the people of the American Colonies. In doing so, they placed themselves and the nascent nation at great peril of mortal repercussions. Regardless, they committed to the cause by pledging their "lives, [their] fortunes and [their] sacred honor." On this Independence Day, we should reflect on the billionaires and other members of the American overclass and how they would commit themselves to the preservation of our nation. Would they be willing to commit their lives, their for- tunes and their sacred honor to advance the interests of the United States? Or are they concerned only with their own self-interests, to the detriment of our great nation? We must, as a people, recognize the verac- ity of the words of the Declaration of Independence, that "experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right them- selves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." It is time to restore the American Dream to an ideal of egalitarianism and fair play, with every American having the opportunity to achieve success, rather than the onerous work ethic that has brought so much suffer- ing to so many for the enrichment of so few. It is time to contemplate a new, albeit democrat- ically exercised, American Revolution ... this time from the tyranny of obscene wealth. % The so-called American Dream, rather than rooted in the principles of the Declaration of Independence, became a canard promulgated by Robber Barons in a post-slavery era to coerce the common people into providing more labor for fewer rewards. OPINION Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2014 Page 112