Philosophical Musings

Philosophical Musings

Sunday, March 15, 2020

The American Experiment & the Enemy Within

The Experiment in Self Rule.


The American experiment was & is one of the most unique & world changing events in the history of mankind. It introduced a concept that had never been tried before: Self Rule. The mission statement of the Declaration of Independence laid the foundation:

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.

The key points in this foundation:
1. The Equality of Man.
2. Govt as servant, to secure the rights of the people.
3. Natural Law as the basis for the organization of the collective.
a. Right to Life.
b. Right of Liberty.
c. Right to choose your direction in life.

So the founders crafted an experiment in self rule, based on specific tenets, & with a view to the ultimate goal: Self Rule
This goal was spelled out in the crafting of the Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The goal was not a democracy, but a constitutional Republic, with fixed Law, based on immutable Natural Law, not subject to the whims of a majority. JUSTICE and LIBERTY were the primary goals of this experiment. Amendments were provided in the Constitution to clarify the specifics. Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, right to due process, arms, & specific duties of this new govt were spelled out with the hopes of sustaining the new experiment. There was even an amendment specifically forbidding the new govt from going beyond its assigned duties.

The idea of a representative govt, with regular citizens being the representatives became the cornerstone. There was not to be a ruling elite, or a noble class, but equal citizens.. farmers & shopkeepers, as the administrators of this collective organization. This election of 'citizen representatives' was a democratic process in the new republic. But it was not a pure democracy. There was not to be a professional ruling class.

“We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy… It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.” ~ Alexander Hamilton

"A government by representatives elected by the people at short periods was our object, and our maxim... was, 'where annual election ends, tyranny begins;' nor have our departures from it been sanctioned by the happiness of their effects." ~Thomas Jefferson

"All [reforms] can be... [achieved] peaceably by the people confining their choice of Representatives and Senators to persons attached to republican government and the principles of 1776; not office-hunters, but farmers whose interests are entirely agricultural. Such men are the true representatives of the great American interest and are alone to be relied on for expressing the proper American sentiments." ~Thomas Jefferson

This is a summary of the American Experiment. For most of our history, it was required for young students & new immigrants to study these foundational concepts in a civics class, to learn about our system of self rule. For self rule to work, you need an informed electorate, with knowledge of the issues, & a firm grasp of the goals. The structure of the constitution provided a framework of governance, with the ability to change with the times. It provided a balance of powers, with various duties of governance split between separate & equal branches of govt.

In a nutshell, here are the basic tenets of the American Experiment:
1. Citizen Representatives (with subsistence & drudgery as compensation).
2. Separation & balance of powers.
3. Limited, subservient duties of govt.
4. Emphasis on Liberty for the People.
5. Constitutional Republic.

Preserving the Experiment: The Oath

To keep the experiment in self rule alive, it would be necessary to protect it from enemies. Power corrupts, & the founders recognized that there would be aggressive, aspiring scoundrels, seeking to secure power & position for themselves.

When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind of corruption generates and forms. ~Thomas Paine

"Our public economy is such as to offer drudgery and subsistence only to those entrusted with its administration--a wise and necessary precaution against the degeneracy of the public servants." ~Thomas Jefferson

To keep this foremost in mind, & to emphasize it for the citizens & the representatives, an oath was required for public service. All branches of govt were required to swear allegiance to the constitution, to preserve & protect it.

The constitution requires the president to take this oath:
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.~ARTICLE II, SECTION 1, CLAUSE 8

Congressmen & justices take this oath:
I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.]

Those in the military take this one:
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Their oath was not to King, or Party, or region, but to an Ideal.. a principle of governance.. a document that outlines a system of self rule. The oath is very similar in all the different branches of govt. The common thread is to defend & protect the constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic. THAT is their primary job. ..not pleasing people. ..not returning favors to donors. ..not pandering to special interests.

The Enemy Within

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ~James Madison

The most deadly enemy to any institution is not the overt enemy, but the false friend. Subversion is a deadly poison that corrupts the ideals & slowly erodes the power & efficacy of the original. We have been in a time of corruption & subversion for many decades, in America. The constitution has been under assault, not from foreign aggressors, but by domestic enemies...False countrymen, intent on destroying the experiment in self rule. The executive branch has repeatedly ignored laws it is charged to enforce, & declared law outside of its duties. The judicial branch has overtly ignored Law, & legislated from the bench with mental distortions & rhetorical gymnastics. The congress has emasculated itself, & become a playground for elites.. a revolving door for riches for those seeking wealth & power, pandering to special interests, ignoring & trampling the very constitution they have sworn to defend.

During times of war, the citizens of a nation are very alert to subversives, even to the point of paranoia, imprisoning Japanese Americans in WW2 & looking for communist sympathizers during the cold war. But it showed the root desire of national preservation from enemies. Communism was a real threat, & was spreading across the globe. Now, the progressive left ridicules this action in times of crisis, condemning the internment camps & the commy witch hunts. But they merely redefine the issue into some kind of bigotry, when the real motive was self preservation from an enemy. But this 'redefining' is part of the progressive lefts attack on American self rule. They themselves are enemies of American Freedom, & work tirelessly to undermine, ridicule, & trample the constitution. And their propaganda voices are complicit with their treachery. The media, entertainment, academia, & just about all American institutions have been hijacked by the progressive left, & are steeped in anti American, anti human ideology. Then they worm their way into govt agencies, & usurp the intent of the office of public servant into a ruling lord. They produce nothing themselves, but take from the working man, & use his resources against him, to undermine & vilify the constitution. They are crashing our own production planes into the towers built to protect & defend the constitution, & have perverted them into weapons against us, burning from within until they collapse the structure to rubble. They destroy the currency with manipulation & dilution of QEs, overload the safety nets with hordes of dependents, invalidate any meaning of citizenship with illegal, unconstitutional immigration, & corrupt the social consciousness with moral relativity & injustice. The progressive left is an enemy of American self rule.

The Solution

1. Recognize the enemy. Rekindle the goal of self rule, & remove the conspirators against it. WAKE UP!! Your enemies have overrun you.. rise & fight!
2. Fulfill your oath. You that have sworn to defend & protect the constitution from ALL ENEMIES, do it!  What are you waiting for? If you do not, you are liars & enemies of American Freedom.
3. Educate for freedom, & stop the leftist indoctrination for socialism. The propagandists are undermining the concept of self rule, & building fit tools for subservience. Promote the ideals of America, & do not allow them to be trivialized & demeaned for some statist plot.
4. Stop the corruption & plundering of the treasury. Balance the budget, secure the currency.
5. Return to the principles of citizen representation. End the professional ruling class, & the moneyed elite. Promote term limits & austerity for public service.

It has taken decades for the slow corruption of the American ideals to take hold, & it will likely take drastic action to reverse it. This is not a time for timidity or compromise. Our liberty is at stake. The Constitution is under assault. It is time for patriotic Americans to rise up & defend our way of life, our system of government, & our basic freedoms. We owe it to our forefathers, our posterity, & ourselves. We owe it to humanity as the only successful experiment in self rule, to show it as a valid way of life. We owe it to God, who has given us this precious gift of freedom.

This is not a matter of different opinions or flavors of American Liberty, but is Liberty vs Bondage. It is America vs treachery. These are ENEMIES of America..  they are not benign. They do not express mere opinions, but treason, as they attack the very foundation of the constitution. The future of America as an experiment in self rule is at stake. You can choose to be a citizen in a nation of self rule, or a subject in a nanny state regime. Passivity is choosing the latter. Make your choice wisely. The future depends upon you.
"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." ~Thomas Jefferson

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