by: B.J.
Posted: September 17, 2007
The Constitution of the United States is the most important document in America today, and it’s so sad that so many American citizens have virtually NO CLUE of what’s actually contained in this document. Never at any point in our nation’s history have the American people been so willing to accept the rapid and out of control growth of our government as we are today. If we only took the time to familiarize ourselves with the Constitution, we would have a much better understanding of the proper functions of government. Unfortunately however, we’ve come to expect government to do many things outside its proper function, from educating our children to providing health care, “affordable” housing, and a retirement “safety net”.
If the American people took the time to simply skim the Constitution, they would easily realize that the federal government is performing functions that are so far outside the scope of the Constitution, that the framers of the Constitution would start another Revolutionary War in this country if they were living today. The Boston Tea Party was constructed for far less atrocities than we are experiencing today—with our consent. The tax burden in this country is outrageous, and we are so eager to support an even larger burden. Furthermore, when we get a president that merely suggests that a government service be cut, the American left (especially) becomes outraged. The true outrage is that cuts in today’s terms only mean a decrease in the amount of the increase of the amount of money the federal government is going to spend on that particular government service. The truth of the matter is that if the government service is not constitutional, it should not only be cut, it should be eliminated all together.
The Constitution merely serves as a governing body of The United States of America based on principles that are conveyed in The Declaration of Independence. For example, The Declaration of Independence clearly states that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution protects these rights, and it is the duty of the President of the United States to protect the principles conveyed in the Constitution, as it’s communicated in the President’s oath of office. The president presides over the U.S. military in order to ensure the nation’s security against foreign invasion. The president thus is the Commander in Chief—not the husband in chief, or the baby daddy in chief, or the donor in chief. Article II of the Constitution covers the duties of the president. If the American people familiarized themselves with these duties, then they would be less reluctant to blame or give so much credit to the president for events that have virtually nothing with the proper functions of government.
Several people in this country do not like the Constitution for a variety of reasons. Many people think that the Constitution is outdated. Civil-rights oriented blacks believe that if the original Constitution were in effect today that they would be three-fifths of a person. People mistake the general welfare clause to mean social welfare, and government subsidized safety nets. None of these things are true, and if we were to refer back to the premise of The Declaration of Independence then we would easily understand that the previous allegations make no sense whatsoever. Consider our inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Does welfare, i.e., income redistribution, preserve and protect our inalienable rights? Considering that taxes are paid by FORCE, then answer is a clear NO. Consider the statement found in The Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal… Is that statement consistent with the three-fifths description? Of course not, because it’s clearly the unfair use of force to ensure someone’s happiness at the expense of someone else’s—without their consent. In fact, if people had a better understanding about the true motivation behind the three-fifths compromise, then they would applaud the decision at that time. In fact, the original grievance of the civil rights movement was based on the fact that the government didn’t apply the principles of The Declaration of Independence towards black Americans simply because they were black, and this was an unconstitutional practice. In fact, the original grievance of the Confederates was based on state’s rights, as guaranteed in the tenth amendment to the Constitution. It’s a crying shame that the American people have so little interest in our governing documents today. There is no doubt that the government is exploiting our lack of interest in the Constitution in order to continue with its out of control growth and oppression.
We should give the same attention to anniversary of the Constitution as we do the celebration of The Declaration of Independence. It’s a crying shame that we do not do so. In fact, if it weren’t for the day off (from rat race jobs especially), we wouldn’t even deem Independence Day a big deal, either. Let’s familiarize ourselves with our Constitution so we can better understand the proper functions of government, and realign ourselves with the principles of The Declaration of Independence—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.