Those are all interesting theories, with some merit. But at the end of the day, what really counts is what actually happens in the real world. Your rights are what a cop on the beat says they are. Here we are in Checkpoint Nation with Drug War 4, or 5, depending on how you count, Terror War 1, and a constant encroaching on your freedom. Now you can be tortured upon arrest or detainment, and it is legal. Your torturers can taze you as punishment for any perceived infraction and they will not be punished. Goons can kick in your door, no knock, no warrant, and have no punishment. You can be spied upon by your ISP or phone company, and the maggot occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and the Goatse congress are about to sign off on them getting amnesty for this intrusion. Your paycheck has been raped away from you. It buys far less of everything and most of you are not getting more pay, so you work more and get less value for your labor. You can call this corporate plantation whatever you want, and there may even be a document that calls it a "Republic" but you will likely find more accurate adjectives to describe it than the official version. Face it, we were lied to about this.
This excellent comment deserves a thread of its own.
BTS