Let us pause for a moment to consider the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
The days following the throwing off of the yoke of english oppression, there was chaos. And debt. The states were confederated, but only for the purpose of defeating the english. There was no mechanism for forcing the colonies, each independent and sovereign, to hand over cash to pay the pressing debt.
So a convention was called. The stated purpose was to re-work the articles of confederation to address the new situation. But there was a conspiracy. One designed to fool the true federalists into giving up their states’ autonomy in favor of an all powerful central government. One ruler for another.
And so it came to pass. Some, such as Madison and Jefferson, naive believers. Others, such as Mason, refused to sign and left.
A compromise was struck. Ratification of the construct of government would be supported, but with a guarantee - The Bill of Rights.
This concept was nothing new. The right to keep and bear arms for example dates back to 16th century england and runs deep into the restoration. A mere 100 years before our situation. Each one of the Bill of Rights addresses specific abuses by the english crown leading up to and during the revolution. They were not theories, they were experienced first hand by the very people demanding relief. Many of the true federalists warned of this new ruler, but were pishawed.
The 1st Amendment was written the way it was because that is how the central english government abused her citizens. And the 2nd and the 3rd and so on…
They were not rights granted, but rather redress earned and protected.
This country has a central tenet of no prior restraint. It goes back to the abuse of the crown through mass punishment. We don’t punish people for what they might do, as a tyrannical crown might. We punish individuals for what they have done.
If you study the foundations of morality, you will recognize this core tenet as an example of fairness/cheating. Americans have it in spades.
Any central government of any form can and will justify (rationalize) any type of additional control in the name of security for the common good. Central governments do not deal in cases, they deal in trends. Again, no matter the form of government.
The very root of the word “govern” comes from the Greek and Latin “to rule”. Control is key to ruling.
It is folly to pretend the Ruling Class are servants of the people. Their function is to rule and by making rules. They have built an army of enforcers - a half a million strong and growing, given them qualified immunity and a judiciary who cannot be challenged, in order to rule.
In every other country I can think of, their citizens have liberties - permissions granted by the government to do certain things.
We in this country are supposed to have, by contract, freedom - we do not require permission from any one or things. But we are slowly allowing the central government to turn guaranteed freedom into permission required liberties. I have a right to express myself in the public square. It has become a permit-required demonstration. I have a right to bear arms. It has become a permit I must pay and pray for. The list goes on and one.
And this insidiuous degradation from freedom into liberties has been ignored, excused, negotiated and rationalized away by us - the very people who demanded their existence. We have traded away messy but blessed freedom for a teat and a binky. For the illusion of being cared for by an entity that cannot even care for itself and is the most inept organization on the planet. We have subjugated ourselves because freedom is too hard. It requires work. Effort.
Joseph de Maistre, French fop, once said “Every country has the government it deserves.”
He was right, but small thinking. It appears we all end up in the same place, just on different timelines.
I counter the miserable monsieur with this collolary: Every people has the government it is willing to accept.
This eventually can only end one way that I can see. In my book, it is already overdue. The contract has been breached.
