by Chuck McGlawn chuckest@aol.com June 2008 Edited 3/20/2019
While the
foundations and underpinnings of “natural law” are taking root in the fertile soil of the New
World, they are, at the same time, being studied by the Founding Fathers who
ushered in not only a completely new attitude toward RIGHTS; it also spawned a
completely new relationship between man and his government. This step in the
evolution has literally redefined government, For the first time in history, a government would be the servant of
man and not the reverse. For the first time in world history, a government was built from the
bottom-up. All previous “kingdoms” were imposed on the populations from
the top-down. Now independent States
the thirteen original colonies were to remain sovereign, linked only by the
Articles of Confederation and later A Federal Government[i]
created by the States ratifying the Constitution.
This groundbreaking next step in man’s social evolution is
revealed in just one sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Let us take a closer look at the Declaration of Independence through eyes that are 243 years
farther along the evolutionary process, starting with We hold these truths to be self-evident… This statement indicates
that the foundations and underpinnings of these concepts were well laid, and
were broadly understood by 1776. The statement basically says, “If you look
around you will come to the same conclusion. The Declaration of Independence
continues with,
…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.
What a powerfully insightful sentence. It lays out man’s
rights, (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness) with the dictum that
these rights are natural rights granted by nature or the Creator, that they
cannot be taken away, not even by the
government being created. They are “unalienable” And that these truths are
confirmed simply by observation of natural law.
Looking a little closer, you have three and only three
RIGHTS. Being born you have the right to LIFE. Moreover, you have the
RIGHT to do with that life anything you want to do that is called LIBERTY.
Furthermore, you have the RIGHT to plan and conduct that life in a way that you think
will maximize your happiness. (These are all yours, so long
as what you do does not interfere with another’s right to do what he or she
wants to do with their life).
Next, the framers make a vitally important assertion. “That to secure these rights”, (notice
here that these are rights that we had even before we had governments to "secure" them.) “Governments are instituted among Men”.
Please note here exactly what is being said, that the States (thirteen British
Colonies become 13 separate and independent governing bodies.) and “We The
People” are going to engaged in a contract with our (soon to be formed) DC Government
to “secure” (that is to protect) our
rights. It is also important to note that men make government, and therefore
men precede government. This means that the government is the agent to and servant
of man, and not the reverse.
Now the framers are going to designate from where our DC Government
gets its powers, and at the
same time put an important limitation on that governmental power. The
Declaration of Independence says, “Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the
governed.” There you have it. If the DC Government gets its power from
the governed, it follows that man cannot create a government and give to that
government powers that man himself does not have. Let me say that again. If
our DC Government gets its power from the governed, then the DC Government
cannot have powers that man himself does not have. Now we are talking
here about a whole new concept in governance, where independent States, Thirteen
to be exact, create the frame-
work of a limited government
Now, let
us ask some questions to clarify the thinking about the power of the DC Government.
Remember we are only talking about the DC Government. The
State, the County, and the City governments do not enter into these limitations.
Question #1, do individual men have the RIGHT to defend their own life and
property? The answer to that question is YES.
Therefore, men can institute the DC Government and share with that Government
the power to protect life and property. In fact, that is the justification for
the military for national DEFENSE, and a court system to adjudicate disputes
between or among States.
Question #2, [And I am serious here.] Does man (that is an
individual man) have the RIGHT to take money from your pocket, and give it to
someone else that he thinks needs it more? The answer to that question is NO. Please
note, if an individual man does not have the RIGHT to take money from one and
give it to another. Then how could a collection of individual men derive such power? Therefore, it would follow that if an individual man does not have that
right then he cannot create a Government, and give to that Government the power
to take money from one and give it to another that the government thinks needs it more.
This means our DC Government can
tax us to perform proper functions of government like National Defense and a court
system. The DC Government has no
power to extract taxes from you to educate
children, no matter how badly you may think children need education. It
means that our DC Government can have no
power to extract taxes from you to fund
social welfare, no matter how needy you think some people are.
This restriction on the DC Government does not prevent individuals elected to govern States, Counties and
Cities from taxing its citizens to support these programs. Because States,
Counties and Cities can never be a monopoly, and if any of those three entities
become overly oppressive one can vote with their feet, and move to another
State, County, or City. Additionally, it places States, Counties, and Cities
under the “jurisdiction” of the “invisible hand” of the Free Market System
which forces a State County or City into “good behavior” or face a dwindling
tax base.
In summary, the DC Government can
have no power to extract
taxes for health care providing,
business promotion. Our DC Government should not be involved in, Park building, border control, educational
standards setting, régime changing, weather reporting, democracy spreading.
The DC Government’s job description does not include database keeping, farmer saving, speed limit setting, toilet
designing, e-mail reading, phone
tapping, or the dozens of
other things that the DC Government is either financing or regulating. There is one last question about a current
hot topic. Do you as an individual have any right over the immigration policies
of another State? The answer is NO. You do have right over the immigration
policies of the State in which you reside. This is why the States did not
delegate any powers over immigration to the DC Government.
The future of our already grossly eroded RIGHTS is grim
indeed. With the two major parties competing with each other to buy votes with
increased spending, and government schools justifying every expansion proposed DC
Government programs, individual RIGHTS
will continue to wane. The Libertarian Movement can play a major roll in
stopping the erosion of our rights. We must demand a governmental system that
allows teachers to teach, preachers to preach but most importantly a
governmental system that allows the REACHERS to reach.
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