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 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.
- Declaration of Independance, July 4th, 1776
I wake up each morning with a sense of fear, panic, that today will be the day that America becomes unrecongnizable. I beleive the hour is late and time is short, the night watchman long ago quit ringing the alarm bell to go find his own place of security for the seige.
I am scared. But I also know that there is precious little hope for liberty and freedom should panic rule and retreat begin (by retreat I mean the withdrawel, i.e. “going John Galt”, of libertarian and constitutionalist minded folks from society).
The stealth nationalisation of our economy has moved so very fast this year. In less than twelve months most of our banking sector has now “partnered” with the government, either by direct large scale revolving lines of credit, or in many cases, direct shareholder ownership. One can see on the horizon that the auto industry is next. It will not be long before healthcare comes down the pike, albeight in many cases health care is already socialized..
Article 1 Section 8 of the United States constitution, when paired with the Tenth Amendment, is supposed to the a preventative measure against overt Federal authority. The system of checks and balances is supposed to prevent this exact sort of massive nationalization of our economy and of empowerment of our Executive branch via the Patriot Act. And what about our national virtues found in the Declaration of Independence?
I know what life is. I know what liberty is. And I know that both are threatened in a state-administered society. But happiness? What is the basis of this fear, this panic that has set in? On what grounds have so many people become concered about the destination and fate of the U.S.S. Liberty? I will admit, it is not an easy question to awnser, and certianly not one that I can addresses in a single, solitary blog post.
But I do know this: Americans just do not seem happy with the State Of The Union on many fronts- the economy, the scope and direction of its policies and the sense of unease in its general state of affairs. I personally am not happy that government continues to grow and liberties sacrificed in the name of benefits.
In short, it seems, most American’s are uneasy because they see idea’s being impletmented that are contrary to the comman sense solutions of a problem. We are not being ruled by a popular vote, but rather by unelected elites from each sector of the various industries in the country.
Which brings me to my point: What is meant by, “consent of the governed”? Do we have to give consent for our freedoms, our liberty, to be administered simply because Barack Hussien Obama won the election? Or did a liberal have to give their consent simply because George W. Bush won? I would hope that neither side’s rights are so subject to the whim of the election results. There is too much distrust on either side for that to be acceptable.
Thomas Jefferson argued that a Constitutional Convention should be held every ten or so years. Given the state of extreme polarization in the country, such an idea could only produce bad results. But something to take out of this: can there be consent when we so split so heavily along social, politcal, religous and economic lines? Have we lost our own understanding of unalienable Rights, and if that is the case, then can we truly consent to be governed? Government, in theory, cannot take away rights, only form a government to protect them.
Which brings me to my conclusion: if consent has not been given then can any undertaking of government be seen as truly a legitimate course of action? Perhaps this is the real source of public unease this day and age. Something to consider anyway.