Patrick Henry Quote

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people,

it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -

lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”

--Patrick Henry

The founding fathers did their best, (nice try Pat). However they didn't place enough teeth in the Constitution. There were no specific penalties for not abiding by its limits. The Constitution cannot defend itself, it must have an informed and educated populace that is dedicated to the defense of individual liberty, that is willing to stand up to the politicians, and level charges against them if necessary, in order to preserve our Constitutional Republic.

Article 1 (election and powers delegated to the Legislature) Section 8 lists 18 clauses. It is one long sentence separated by semi-colons and ending with a period. The founders placed a great deal of faith in that period. It was a stop sign, as those 18 powers listed both the upper and lower limits to Legislation. It is therefore also the upper and lower limits to actions that can be taken by the Executive branch (President) and it also outlines the guidance that the Supreme Court can use to judge the Constitutionality of an action.

The American people have too long left the government to not only create legislation but also to be the judge of the legislation's lawfulness (that is, whether or not the legislation is in harmony with the principles of limited government clearly written in the US Constitution).

Now that we have over two centuries of experience with this attempt at limited federal government and we have seen that even an explicit list limiting the powers of government will not discourage usurpation of power. Even a Bill of Rights clarifying those limits "in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added" (quoted from the preamble to the Bill of Rights); and the replacement of worthless paper currency for gold and silver money; and the destruction of the free market domestically; and witnessing the wars (killing of 'foreigners') and democides (killing of their own citizens, see http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/welcome.html ) that it is impossible to write a document which will limit government to a reasonable and "lawful" level.

Therefore I must conclude that the risks of no federal government whatsoever are less than the risks of even a Constitutionally limited government.

We are fast approaching the time when the socialist's dreams will come due, when there is not enough of a remnant of the free market left to support the socialism. It will not be pretty, but it is necessary in order to learn the lessons necessary to return to freedom, and to hopefully preserve it.

If you want to be part of the solution, then YOU must read and study the founding documents of our nation, as well as the books that the founders read. You must take responsibility for yourself, for your education and for the education of your loved ones. Then you will be able to recognize the unlawful programs when they are presented to you and you can then stand on principle. There are too many intellectual parasites out there, don't ask the insipid questions in order to try to find a shortcut to education, there isn't one. Don't believe the politicians, don't believe the college professors, find out for yourself by reading from the classics. Your education must be earned by you no matter how much money your family has, no matter how much you wish it wasn't so, no matter how much you might whine about it, that is how it is. So get busy.

There are only two kinds of people in this world, those that believe that there are two kinds of people in the world and those that don't. Okay, just kidding, but in all seriousness there are simply "individualists" and "collectivists". If you believe that you know best how to run your life, and you respect and defend that right for others, then you are an individualist, enjoy abundance in your life. If you think that some bureaucrat, politician or think tanks knows what is best for you, then you are a collectivist, and you will live with your scarcity of resources.