Failing our Posterity

The youth is not being educated to appreciate this country and its undeniable role in making the world a better place for tens of millions of individuals. The critic’s knee jerk reaction to this opening sentence goes like this, “if you were a slave or Indian you may think differently about that.” I am being generous to the left here because they are usually more emotional and profane because that is easier than actual thought and analysis.

The reality is that the world was brutal, full of dictatorships, cast systems, slavery, monarchial kingdoms, regimes that had little respect for anything but their own power and survival. Along comes America and all of that changes. Do our kids get the real story or do they learn some dates about points of history? The reality is that our education system has failed, and worse, they are delinquent in teaching the American story in context of the world.

When talking about slavery it is rarely discussed that America was a catalyst for the ending of world slavery because of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The fact that the founding of this Nation was focused on individual liberty is glazed over, and the focus is on the evil of America owning slaves. To put this into context, we will see a similar fate with the abortion “issue” one day. Abortion kills a potential human being and it has been an “accepted” practice but that is changing. Just as the practice of slavery had no moral justification, the abortion issue is similar. How can you justify killing a potential life with no justification? Time, understanding, technology, and knowledge will make future generations question our moral character on abortion. They will look back at us just like we look back at slave owners and wonder how we could have allowed it. How could the people of the world morally justify the enslavement of another human being? How could the world have allowed the killing of a potential human being?

Freedom and free markets have produced the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth. That is the result of the American experiment. The wealth prior to America was stolen by the government. Although we are moving back to that model in some ways, if our youth understood capitalism and our history, they would be supporting free markets and clamoring for smaller government. Instead they fret over recycling and worry about global warming.

This country is not perfect or is any country perfect. We are human beings after all is said and done. We are imperfect but we have been blessed with the genius of freedom and self-rule. That genius and self-rule is the current law of the land. It is embodied in the Constitution. It is embedded in a document that is currently being ignored and is no longer taught effectively in our classrooms.

We are failing our posterity and squandering their ability to have a productive and free future. And the sad thing is that so many of them don’t even know it…

The Cost of Ignorance…

No matter what they say - ignorance is not bliss. In fact it is dangerous and imperils our freedoms. Our founders understood human nature because they were students of history. The founders had a love of learning and believed that education was a personal obligation to becoming a good citizen. Knowing history is like having a crystal ball to the future. By studying the civilizations of the past, our founders created the foundational principles of the Constitution.

Limiting the capacity of government to be able to control individuals was the principle goal of the Constitution. The main argument for a central government was to create the ability to provide a common defense for the states. They didn’t want to have to beg the states to support the defense of the country as they did during the revolution where George Washington had to make due with very limited resources. The Constitution was designed to contain the tendencies of governments to overstep and control the lives of the governed as was the case throughout history. They believed by putting us in charge of us, and limiting what a central government could do, they could improve the lives of everyone that lived within the constitutional republic. The Constitution was the written culmination of lessons learned that would set a foundation for a brand new form of government. One created by the people for the people. No ruling class or group of people would have power without the consent of the governed. It was a revolutionary concept but could only survive with an engaged citizenry. The founders feared if the citizens ignored the government it could quickly deteriorate into dictatorship so they provided as many safeguards in the Constitution as they could. But ultimately they knew it would come down to a willingness of the people to defend the Constitution. Without the people’s attention they knew the past would repeat itself.

They feared many things when designing the new republic including an all-powerful president. They did not want one man to have too much power or any group of people in the government to have too much power so they used the concept of “balance of powers” between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government. It was the job of each branch to keep the other in check. So no one branch could determine the direction of the federal government without the consent of each branch. It was a design nothing short of a miracle.

As we consider the actions of the Federal Government today and this President, it is apparent that the American education system has failed. The outrageous conduct of the appointments made by this president without the constitutionally mandated consent of the senate yesterday should have received a greater reaction than it did. The limited reaction to these appointments shows how our education system has systematically limited the citizen’s knowledge of their form of government. These radical and unlawful acts should be stirring up a beehive of legal action against this administration. Yet we go on and act as if this is just a game being played by a President intent on creating a rift between him and the congress to be used in his re-election campaign strategy. It is a dangerous and illegal game that deserves the attention of our congressional members and the judiciary.

This President has said he will go around the congress to do the “people’s work” which is exactly what every dictator in history uses as an excuse to implement their own tyranny on the governed. I know most people don’t realize how dangerous this is but they should. No matter what rhetoric is used to justify his actions, in a constitutional republic the law is king not the president. And the law says he can’t appoint people to positions of power within the government without the consent of the Senate. The Senate is officially in session and therefore the excuse of recess appointments is irrelevant.

Following the process of government is like watching paint dry for most citizens but if we expect to live in a country that respects freedom and the rule of law we must pay attention and react when necessary. The congress should threaten impeachment immediately and defund the departments affected by these appointments. This is not business as usual. This is a crime.

The country is worth watching over. It may be boring but it is our responsibility to protect future generations from the ambitions of leaders that would rather dictate than follow the law of the land.

Freedom of the Press VS. Subsidizing Newspapers…

The founders knew the best check on government was the ability of the people and press to speak out against the government and its representatives freely. At the time of our founding, the press (newspapers, pamphlets, letters, etc…) were the only organized vehicles to speak through at the time. Without the “press” of the time, the general public’s ability to get information about issues would have been crippled if not for the traditional means of communications was not protected.

Subsidizing the “business” of the press was not their intention. The only consideration for the founders was protecting liberty by protecting the ability of individuals and organizations like the press to speak out against an oppressive government, and by limiting the power of the government to control the speech against the same government. To suggest that the government should have any role in ensuring a media company’s success in the market place is a total distortion of original intent.

Today, we have the internet, radio, TV, all what the founders would have labeled as the press. Every one of the new medium unknown to the founders at the time, is a support for the original intent which was protecting speech and limiting the power of government. Because the traditional press has squandered their prestige by becoming political arms of party politics is the reason they are failing. They have greater competition, yes, but the real reason for their failure is their drifting from truth and facts to opinion and advocacy. Once you take a side you limit your audience. A very simple concept to understand.

So for the tax payer to subsidize a press that is no longer objective and separate from the government it is supposed to “protect” us from is in absolute contradiction to the original intent of our founders. We don’t need the traditional press, although I believe they still have an opportunity to reform themselves, we have what the founders were trying to truly protect which was the ability to speak out against our government through the expanded mediums we have today. Today’s technology has made speech safer from the perspective of holding government accountable. That is why the argument has shifted to protecting the internet from government control. Because the internet is more like the original press our founders wanted protected. A free interchange of ideas without government influence.

Let the traditional press models fail if they can’t compete, we have an outlet to speak against our government. Once the government is subsidizing the traditional press, we no longer have an independent advocate protecting our liberties. They will become an arm of the government, and that is definitely not what the founders intended when protecting the press in our constitution.

Jefferson; Thoughts on John and Sam Adams, Hamilton, and why it Matters today…

Thomas Jefferson is considered America’s greatest political Philosopher in the cause of liberty. History scholars, whether they agree with his politics or not, have to agree he was a genius in the discipline of developing government frameworks that protected liberty by harnessing human nature and the propensity of individuals to use government to acquire power. His life was spent studying, defining, determining, and protecting liberty for the America he helped found and loved.

He was a prolific writer and his library contained volumes of books that he read on subjects ranging from farming to the history of the Roman Empire. He used history to support his ideas on liberty, and always argued for limited government based on his knowledge of how government was an avenue to tyranny; always. He also wrote about the other founders and his impression and experience in their joint efforts creating our republic.

On Sam Adams he believed that there was no greater patriot in the cause of freedom and respected Sam Adam’s opinions on many of the difficult issues of the time. Sam Adams was a devout Christian and was driven to freedom mostly due to his belief and defense of religious freedom. Jefferson was very private in his own religion, but respected men like Sam Adams because he knew a free society could only be maintained by a moral society.

On John Adams he respected his ability to argue but knew J Adams had no understanding of human nature and its impact on forming a government. They were often at odds and were seen as rivals but had a mutual respect for the differences of opinion and shared a lifelong relationship that Jefferson treasured and wrote about throughout his life. Their common cause was liberty and forming a “rational republic” form of government.

On Alexander Hamilton he believed and rightfully so, that he would have been content with the British form of government in America, and his true goal of independence was that he should be one of the elite class, not the Englishman sitting thousands of miles away. Hamilton did not believe that government was best ruled by the “common” citizen, and often disagreed with Jefferson on this point. They were rivals in the administration of George Washington, and Jefferson vehemently disagreed with the creation of a central bank not overseen by congress. Jefferson believed Hamilton was content on “force and corruption” in his management of government.

Jefferson never swayed from his belief in self rule and the people’s ability to get most issues right when given the proper information. He knew religion was key for a moral society but a society could not be lead by a religious doctrine. Jefferson knew that a representative republic was the best way to harness tyranny and befriended the leaders that held that belief even though they had limited understanding of the power of human nature. And finally, Jefferson knew that Hamilton was the embodiment of the forces that would need to be harnessed if liberty were to survive. Hamilton’s financial prowess and genius was a skill needed in the first years of the republic due to the accumulated debt of the revolution. But Jefferson often challenged Hamilton’s propensity toward an elite structure of government.

The lessons of Jefferson today are too numerous to state here, but his simple ability to determine the importance of many diverse opinions and skill sets, and direct them for the common good are sorely missing today. Leadership in government is a balance of determining the proper role of government, the emotional nature of the citizens it serves, and never compromising the foundation that makes it all worth the effort; Liberty. We can learn all we need to know about turning our country and its economy around by understanding our history. We can turn our future around by understanding Jefferson and his devotion to liberty…

Celebrate Our Constitution; It’s Not Just About Our Past, It’s the Key To Our Future…

Today is the day we celebrate the signing of the most influential political document ever created by man. It was a miracle that a document like this was even created based on world history, and the barbaric nature of governments at the time. But the framers were not regular men, they were inspired. It was divine providence that this document ever made it to the signing ceremony. It was a blessing of freedom and opportunity for the entire world to see and envy.

We face significant challenges today as a nation with deficits running in the trillions of dollars, companies and states going bankrupt, and individual freedoms being forfeited for promises of security from an out of control federal government. These problems have been created because of one simple fact; we have ignored our founding principle of limited government clearly spelled out in the U.S. Constitution.

For too many years our politicians have taken an oath to defend this historic document but have immediately set off to undermine the same principles they promised to obey under the guise of compassion, security, morality, or some other unjustifiable justification they could fathom. Since the presidency of Abraham Lincoln who boldly stampeded the constitution, to FDR, and beyond to the current president, the constitution has been ignored as the document holding the solutions to our problems. President Reagan briefly renewed the spirit of the constitution but unfortunately many leaders since have forgotten his lessons.

President Reagan and the founders knew that any government allowed to grow would do so, and in effect would trample the liberty and opportunity of all of the citizens that it governed. That is the miracle of the constitution; it concisely and deliberately limits the government’s ability to grow. It clearly states that it is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, not the other way around. It does so with the balance of powers defined within the document which purposely made the process of government cumbersome and divided, to insure that it was the greatest weapon against tyranny. The founders knew human nature and history, and understood the instinct of humans to control others had to be checked or the United States would end up like all other free civilizations throughout history; extinct.

Over the years many cases concerning constitutionality of state and local laws have been reviewed by the federal Supreme Court. Many were seen as an abandonment of the constitution to appease popular sentiment, but ultimately ended up undermining the intent of the constitution’s limit on government power and control. These laws have become what lawyers refer to as “precedence.” One of the most abused precedents has been the “interstate commerce clause.” It has allowed the federal government to involve itself and grow to the point the federal government is telling us how fast we can drive our cars, a power that cannot be found in the constitution. There are too many examples to state here but we must take a fresh look at the constitution and apply it today without reference to the abuse of past Supreme Courts. All law should be reviewed in the context of the concepts so clearly defined in the constitution.

I like clear examples and here is the one I tell which I heard told by Walter Williams: The constitution is the rules of the game. If in a game of poker I deal the deck and you have four aces. I decide that two twos beats four aces and I win, would you play poker with me? If you say yes I want your e-mail. The point is the constitution is the rule book. Judges can’t decide to change it because they don’t like the circumstances. That is what has been happening. So to make it fair, all cases making it to the Supreme Court should be judged against the original rule book. Not against a changed rule by the card dealer.

So when we see that our constitution has been altered by bad law what is the remedy? There are several, but one constitutional response is found in the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment simply states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, no prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This means the states have the right, and I would argue the obligation, to nullify bad and unconstitutional law at the State level. For example, nowhere in the constitution does it allow for the creation of a Department of Education. Education is the responsibility of the individual, communities, and states to figure out. The federal government should have been stopped from creating the department. But many say so much of what has been done can never be undone. Never say never.

Our constitution is clear on the roles and responsibilities of the federal and state governments. All we have to do is to get our Governors to go back to this miraculous document, start auditing the functions of the federal government, and start nullifying them one by one. The Sixteenth Amendment allows the federal government to tax individuals and corporations directly but it is missing one key component; it doesn’t set a limit. Our Governors need to utilize the constitution and set the limit on what they will allow their citizens to be taxed. We need a constitutional challenge of the Sixteenth Amendment by having a state set a limit on the amount of money that the federal government can tax individuals and corporations. Since it is not defined, the responsibility defers to the states respectively, or the people.

The future of the United States lies in the words of this historic document. We don’t need reform; we need compliance with our current Constitutional law. We must know our history to have a productive and free future. History is the key to the future. Just like our founders of yesterday, the leaders of today must put their faith in the greatest set of laws ever created by man. Our leaders of today must know their history to create policies for the future.

The U.S. Constitution is the solution to our seemingly endless problems, mostly created by an out of control unconstitutional government, and we as a nation have ignored this fact. The solution to our problems is all found within the document we celebrate today. We must read it, and study it. God Bless our Constitution and America…

We hold these truths to be self evident…

That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

These words and the meaning behind them are becoming more and more relevant every passing day. These words taken from our Declaration of Independence are timeless and deliberate in their recommendation in restraining government for all time. Jefferson believed these words should be used for all time, ready to be resurrected, in times when they again began to ring true for the people of this nation. In other words, our founders if alive today would be considering the same words against the current Federal Government actions being thrust upon us today.

These founders knew human nature would again find a way to undermine the document they worked so hard to establish. They understood no document could withstand the desires of those men determined to take power over others; benevolent or not. They understood that circumstances of the times could be manipulated to encourage the people to give up certain rights in crisis. They understood that in order for this document to survive the people would need to maintain morality and diligence in holding their elected officials accountable. They understood there would come a time when our posterity would be threatened by the actions of their father’s inability to restrain their desires. They understood that no matter how hard they tried to restrain the evil tendencies of government there was always the possibility it could happen. They wrote these words in the declaration that would remind us why they chose the path they did.

Brilliant is the only word for the intelligence of these men in the understanding of human nature. Brilliant was the design they worked so hard to achieve for the thing that became the “American Dream”. Brilliant was their instinct to know the true inefficiencies of government and doing their best to limit the scope of the inefficiency. Brilliant for their time. Brilliant for all time.

We are watching this historic brilliance being over shadowed by today’s ignorance and a willingness to put all historical lessons aside about the outcome of intrusive government. The lessons that are so clearly documented and casually observed throughout today’s society illustrating government failure, yet we are allowing more investment in the scope of government looking for a different outcome. This is insanity.

Read the Declaration of Independence, read the US Constitution, read about the history of this glorious nation and think. Think about how far we have come and how fast we have created the greatest nation in the world. Our country is built on the simple brilliance of investing our future in individual freedom, free markets, and limited scope of government interference, not on the destructive principle of collective utopia, and hoping for a different outcome from the failure that is sure to be. We are reversing the brilliance of this nation but if you read the documents of our founders there is no other conclusion you can come to; brilliant…