2 March 2016
From the Declaration of Independence
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.
Preamble to the Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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.
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As we go through the Presidential Primaries and the 2016 Presidential election itself, let us remember the words and the intent of the two primary legal documents that define the United States, separating it and advancing it to a higher level of civilization and achievement - an achievement beyond anything that existed at the time of its founding, and which even today is still uniquely beyond anything that exists anywhere else in the world today.
At the same time, let us consider what fundamentals underlie the statements of the various candidates.
The rebels who instigated and led the American Revolution and afterwards the founding of the United States based their entire justification on two issues, both essential and mutually dependent:
1. that each of us has certain specific rights as a human being;
2. that government must be instituted by the people, not imposed, by some autocratic group or person, and that they derive specified - not unlimited - powers from the consent of the governed - that government is limited in what it may do, and that it cannot change the rules which bind its existence and which hold it in abeyance from taking actions beyond those limits.
These two issues imply that the individual is the primary, not the government, and that his life is paramount, it is not subject to impositions at the arbitrary discretion of the government. Beyond a certain limited point, the government is powerless - and it can do nothing to change that.
Should the government try to cross that line, the government is itself illegal. In no way is the government or anybody in its employ ever above the law.
This is notably at odds with every other government in the world today. In Canada, in Mexico, in Europe - Britain, France, Germany, Italy, etc., and everywhere else, the government is in control of its constitution. The government may change the laws by which it must abide without consulting its subject population. It may decide what human rights are, and how they may or may not be protected.
No other government has achieved what has been achieved in the United States. No other government has advanced to that level of human achievement.
Whenever someone calls for the socialism of Europe as something which the United States should aspire to, he is advocating a step backwards, regressing back to a way of life where individuals are reduced to subjects, living in a world beyond their control; where the rulers impose laws upon them, telling them what they can do and cannot do, whether in the name of socialism, or any other fad format, or simple tyranny. People who live in those countries only have the facade of freedom; they do not have the freedom which is the right of every citizen of the United States.
Presidential candidates who espouse socialism are advocating that you let them control you. Socialism is the government telling you what you must do and cannot do.
Be aware that those supporting such a candidate are hoping to take advantage of what will be taken from you by such a government, or are naively misunderstanding the implications of "feel good" policies advocated without the "truth in advertising” that would show the full and horrific cost of allowing the government to have such unregulated latitude.
Short and not so sweet, socialism is the government telling you what to do - how to spend your money, what car to drive, where you may go, what products you can sell or buy, where you may live, what kind of medical care is available to you, what kinds of food may be sold, what you may say, what groups may associate together and for what purpose - socialism is tyranny in disguise.
When you work for a company, they direct your time and efforts while you are there. That is their right, as long as you agree to work for them. But to endure that kind of control inescapably over every minute of your life is a horrible thing, and must be resisted and fought with every means available. The U.S. Constitution assures you have the freedom which makes that fight possible, and the winning achievable.
Any step towards socialism - however small - is regression - a step backwards in time to places more barbaric and primitive than Americans have ever experienced, where your life is not your own, and your fate is at the mercy and control of someone else.
Contrast that with the freedom that is the right and natural expectation of any citizen living under the law of the Constitution of the United States, and the economic progress and well-being inherent in that set of living conditions.
Whatever mistakes are made, whatever corruption occurs, whatever assaults are attempted, whoever might try to undermine or subvert the American Constitution and way of life, it can still be put right; those disruptions to freedom can always be undone, as long as the Constitution remains the law by which we all live.
Those who would discard the Constitution and seize power understand that. The delusion of those who fail to realize how truly they are enjoying the freedoms guaranteed by Constitution is crucial to their efforts and success.
Should the Constitution ever come to be shrugged off as an outdated anachronism, as something to be replaced with socialism, there can be no undoing. Without its protection, there will be nothing but an endless introduction of new laws and restrictions, and the long, slow slide to drudgery, misery, and illiterate poverty.
-- Scott
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