or socialism on people has been by way of medicine..."
President Ronald Reagan
Posted on 07/28/2013 5:43:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
Americans voted twice for a big-government President, and now we’re beginning to experience the impact of big government. Are you shocked?
It’s been nearly five years of the President and Congress spending future generations into the oblivion of debt, the Executive Branch securing control over huge chunks of the private economy (two car companies, multiple banks and the health care industry are only part of it), and a dramatic expansion of both the defined role, and the powers of the IRS. At this point in the Obama presidency, we the people should not be surprised by a government that has purported to be able to give us everything we want, but, as we are now experiencing, is in fact powerful enough to take away everything we need.
Protesting is insufficient. Americans need to develop a healthy dose of skepticism- the sooner the better – about the promises of politicians to meet our every need, and we should abandon this false assumption that the agents of our government will exercise their power fairly. History suggests that governmental power is usually abused, and America may be on its way to repeating that history.
In many ways, our present reality is a sad state of affairs. We are, after all, not merely innocent victims of the IRS scandal, the NSA scandal, the Benghazi cover-up, the emergence of “Common Core” nationalizing of public schools, or the refusal of our government to honestly confront domestic terrorism. We empowered our current President and his Administration, not once but twice, and are thus complicit in it.
But here’s the good news: in many other ways, some of the founders of our nation understood human nature so remarkably well that they foresaw a day when future generations would want not so much a President, as a messiah. And some of those same early Americans offered some guidelines that, if we choose again to follow them, could help lead us out of our current malaise.
Such wisdom is yours for the reading in “The Federalist Papers,” that old compilation of some 85 newspaper editorials that argued for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, published between 1787 and 1788. While making the case for limiting the power of government, and establishing “checks and balances” between government’s various “departments,” James Madison eloquently wrote in “The Federalist Number 51:”
“ It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government……”t would seem that Madison the philosopher (who went on to become our Fourth President of the United States) was quite certain that those who govern will never be “angels” (he would probably also concur that a President will never amount to a messiah). Madison also seems to indicate that those who govern will naturally begin to think a bit too highly of themselves, and will have difficulty with ‘self-restraint.”
The good news, even in this brief passage of Madison’s writings, is that “the people” - - those of us who are “the governed” - - can still function as the force that prohibits government from spiraling out of control. Certainly, we are still “free enough” – at least for now, anyway - to speak out, to allow our voices to be heard, and to freely exchange ideas about our country and its government - - even if those ideas are contrary to the edicts of a dead-certain Command-In-Chief.
The question is not “can we,” but “will we” function as that balancing force against a government that has seized way too much control of our lives. Madison and the other founders set the course. Will we follow their lead?
The flip is true now .... with many decades of work by the Dems/Progs/Libs and with enabling help and outright support from the Republicans, the people are dependent on the government. I don't see it getting turned back around.
No doubt. There comes a time when people have to ACTUALLY take matters into their own hands. By whatever means necessary.
Very well said
that emoticon is me right now
In George Washington’s Farewell Address (paragraph 22), he warned about the diversity of factions whose ideologies would destroy our unity around the Constitution and lead to a dictator and the loss of freedom.
Uh James Madison also saw it in his world and in the past world, government is abusive, once the narcissists get power, they abuse it
A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government . . . But experience has taught mankind that auxiliary precautions are necessary.
A few paragraphs later, Madison said, " In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people is subdivided to the administration of a single government. To guard against usurpation, the government is divided into distinct and separate branches. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, state and federal. Then the portion allotted to each is subdivided among distinct and separate branches. Hence the rights of the people are doubly protected."
The first and most important division of power was between the states and feds. The 17th Amendment removed the first division. Here in the age of Obama, the second division, that of three branches within the national government has become muddied to point that judges and the executive make proclamations with the force of law.
Very little time remains to save our republic. It is way beyond time for an Article V amendment convention.
I'm not sure faster communications would expedite things. In the days of the steam engine and telegraph, the parties involved would recognize that people they chose to represent them might reach consensus with other representatives in ways that might not be 100% agreeable to the people appointing them, but accepting such imperfect consensus would be deemed better than spending time on multiple iterations of "improvements". Modern technology improves the speed of iteration, but would likely increase the number of iterations people would want. It's unclear which effect would dominate.
The American dream, as well as the American nightmare, were accurately envisioned by our founders. Their uncanny perception and brilliance makes Divine Intervention easy to argue.
He wrote George Washington's first inaugural address, was the first (unofficial) Senate majority leader and as Jefferson's Secretary of State might well have been nearly at the same place of highest influence through Jefferson's and his own four terms in early Washington.
I could go on and on, but I won't.
I'm going to Montpelier ASAP to pay respects.
Steer clear of the elementary websites devoted to children and child-minds, if you want to understand these remarkable people and their time, and our country.
The so called racist white guys saw this day coming.
Perhaps some on this ping list would like to contribute.
5.56mm
It is worthy. I think there were more than a few of the founders who could have seen this coming. I don’t think Alexander Hamilton was one of them, but I think even he would be astonished and repulsed if he saw the way our government was today, particularly with respect to our debt.
Somehow I think that Fascism was not what the EBT'ers were Hoping for when they voted for change. But it certainly is what we got.
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