By J.B. Williams
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Throughout world history, people seeking dominion over other people have always claimed that their desire for ultimate power serves some greater common good. They sell the notion that their personal quest for power is justified by their need to save you little people from yourselves.
But in America, there is no common good greater than the "unalienable" rights to Life, Individual Liberty and Personal Freedom, the God given right to define and pursue Happiness through individual achievement, promised to every legal American citizen.
Thomas Jefferson carefully recorded our founding principles in our nations founding document, the Declaration of Independence, upon which all else has been built. Jefferson set the foundation for our country upon these fundamental principles...
"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."
These fundamental rights are not some gift from our legislators to be toyed with at will. They were "endowed by our Creator." They are not negotiable, to be traded for some so-called greater common good. They are "unalienable." They are beyond the reach of common politicians because they represent the greatest common good for all. They are not up for discussion.
We can't protect and preserve something we don't even know or understand.
On July 4, 1776, by unanimous consent of the thirteen original colonies, congress set these principles in stone. Unfortunately, by 2007, too many Americans have forgotten these words and what they mean.
When college students were recently asked where these words came from, less than half of those surveyed knew that these were the opening words of our Declaration as a free, independent sovereign nation. Some thought the phrase was taken from the Communist Manifesto, while others were certain they came from our Constitution.
I have a fourth grader and a second grader in my home and both know these words by heart, where they come from and what they mean. How any American student makes it through grade school, much less to college or congress, without knowing this fundamental truth about their country is beyond me? But they do, in huge numbers today and this represents the greatest threat to our national future!
These kids don't know or understand the mere basics about the country they are called to protect and preserve, but they do vote! Worse yet, half of the politicians in Washington would fail this test today too. Their political platform tells us so.
There is no good greater than personal freedom. There is no legislated special interest right more powerful than individual liberty. There is no communal benefit greater than the promise of individual choice. There is no collective special interest more valuable than the common right of every individual, to be an individual in control of their own destiny.
The words "separation of church and state" do NOT appear anywhere, by word or even by broad implication, in our founding documents. Instead, the founders repeatedly reminded us of something that should require no reminding.
Only a morally sound society is suited well for self-governance. The founders knew and said it many times. If we want to retain dominion over our own lives, we must govern ourselves in a morally sound fashion. Laws are written to govern those who will not govern themselves. The less we govern ourselves through moral judgments, the more necessary laws become. The more laws we have, the less freedom we have.
For this reason alone, morality can never be separated from our system of self-governance. This gives no particular religion power over another. All peaceful religious beliefs are welcome to practice and express themselves here. The very First Amendment in our Bill of Rights says so.
Our Republic is governed by us, of, by and for the people. It is governed by way of a constitutionally mandated process ruled by the consent of a constitutional majority. The Constitution, including its first ten Amendments, was carefully crafted and ratified by the states on the basis of the specific words recorded. Thousands of ideals did not make it into these documents. The many ideas which are not written in our governing documents were never ratified by the states and as a result, they do not exist.
If the constitution does not mean what it says, then it means nothing at all and that which we were told to protect and defend with our lives, is already lost.
It is a living breathing document, adaptable to changing times and conditions, only to the degree that the amendment process alone makes it possible to keep the document current with the times.
The constitution is nothing more than a management agreement between the people who hold all the power and their elected officials, for the expressed purpose of assigning specific limited powers and duties to a federal government. The founders were careful to close their governing document with the Tenth Amendment, which clearly states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
This means that the federal government is to be limited to only those powers and duties specifically enumerated in the constitutions language itself. A greater communal good was not a power or duty assigned to the federal government, for good reason.
Federal powers have since been expanded via additional amendments and very liberal interpretation of unwritten constitutional language, often directly at odds with written constitutional text. This is no way to protect and defend the constitution or the nation it holds together...
In politics, things are seldom as they are presented for public consumption.
Our founders were very careful to assign the people dominion over themselves and their government. They assigned the federal government only extremely limited powers and duties, under very specific guiding principles. They defined our fundamental rights as "endowed by a Creator," "unalienable" by politicians and special interest groups, who are always in search of greater political power, for the greater communal good, of course.
Any politician who promises to save you from yourself, is also promising to take your individual right to dominion over yourself, in order to establish the power they need to preside over your individual circumstances. Before they can save you from yourself, they must first acquire the power necessary to do so, with your consent.
These politicians are an enemy of personal freedom, individual liberty and your right to define and control your own destiny. There is no other honest way to describe them.
They are promising to take away your property, earnings and liberties, as well as that of others, on your behalf. No American should ever vote to support such politicians. When they do, they are voting themselves and their fellow Americans into self-induced tyranny, without exception, no matter their alleged socially conscious seemingly justifiable intentions.
I can only protect and preserve Life, Liberty or Freedom for myself by protecting the Life, Liberty and Freedom of all others. These are our fundamental American rights and they belong to every American. They have nothing to do with race, creed, skin color, sexual orientation, intellect, family heritage, financial status or chosen profession. In this way, we are indeed all equal.
Special rights for special interest groups infringe upon the rights of all others as individuals. The founders established long ago, that NO special interest group is more important than another or any individual. People have just forgotten. They have become caught up in special interest pandering that now defines our modern political process.
"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 to 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."
It is in fact the responsibility of the people to alter or abolish it, our duty, as it is the people, not the politicians, who are entrusted with the power in America.
Our most fundamental American right is to Life. Our founding principles say so, because there can be no freedom or liberty for any individual who is not first, entitled to Life itself. We were promised a right to Life, not a life free from the natural consequences of our decisions.
Our second most fundamental right is to individual Liberty. Life and Freedom are of no value to any people lacking the individual liberty to make their own choices. There is no greater communal good that can trump the power of individual Liberty.
Our third most fundamental right is to define and pursue individual Happiness through personal achievement. No people on earth have ever done more with less. America is the most prosperous, generous nation on earth because we enjoy the right to pursue whatever dreams we can imagine. We are free to become as much or as little as we desire.
These rights are fundamental. They are "endowed by our Creator", not a handout to be rationed for the greater communal good, by our politicians. These rights are "unalienable" by men, be they Democrat or Republican.
And whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, we have a right and a responsibility to alter or abolish that government and start anew.Keep these things in mind as you listen to candidates who want very much to lead our country. Remember these principles as they tell us their vision of how they would lead this country. If their vision includes any agenda at odds with the principles outlined here, it is a wholly un-American vision and agenda.
Yes, Un-American - No other name will do...
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