History+and+Liberty

=**History and Liberty**=

**A Republic, If You Can Keep It:**
During the hot summer of 1787, delegates from the 13 states gathered in Philadelphia debating, arguing, and compromising over a range of topics to develop the U.S. Constitution. The story is told that an elderly woman approached Benjamin Franklin as he emerged from the final session of the Constitutional Convention, at which time she asked him the question, "What sort of government do we have, doctor?" to which he famously answered "A Republic, if you can keep it." It's important to understand that the U.S. is NOT democracy (although this has become the easy way of explaining our system of government). The founders recognized that in a pure democracy the masses or majority vote for whatever they want in direct assault on the minorities. The founders wanted to set up a government in which the people had the power but they wanted to be sure to keep the passions that grip people from taking over. They did so by setting up strong checks and balances on all power and also setting up the rule of law, which is the idea that all people have individual rights that must be protected if when a majority has a passion and also to bind the government, not the people. Why would Franklin answer the woman as he did? Perhaps he knew human nature and how perhaps people would start to vote according to their own self interests.

**Foundations of Freedom:**
On a scale, the extreme left is 100% tyranny or ruler's law while the extreme right is 100% anarchy, or no law. Some where in the middle is people's law. It is this People's Law that the founders enshrined in the Constitution to defend the people from oppressive government while at the same time protecting them from each other. Communism and Fascism are often confused as being polar opposites in ideology (Communism as far left and Fascism as far right), but they are actually the same - both involve police state control of people's lives. The ruler's law end involves control of the people by force for the benefit of the state. Anarchy may appear at first to be complete freedom, but it only takes a little consideration to understand that if everyone is free to do what they want with no laws, then freedom is lost because everyone will infringe on each other. The Founding Fathers were all well-educated in classical literature. The basis for People's Law can be traced back to the original Anglo-Saxon, which began occupying the island of England somewhere around 450 A.D. who in turn based many of their ideas upon ancient Israel (before the monarchy). This became known as English Common Law (common because it was understood by all to be true). Even before, in Rome, Cicero wrote that once the reality of the Creator is clearly identified in the mind, the only intelligent approach to government, justice, and human relations is in terms of the laws, which the Supreme Creator has already established. The Creator's order of things is Natural Law. The Founding Fathers based American law on the Laws of Nature.

John Locke is one who expounded upon Natural Law. In his second essay, Locke is saying (paraphrasing) those of us in Nature have been given a set of laws, which govern our behavior; we are all equal and independent under the law; we are all created by the same all-powerful Creator; we are the servants of our Creator; we are here by order of our Creator; we are here to do our Creator's business; we are the property of our Creator; and as such, we are not free to harm each other by the exercise of our own perceived freedoms. In the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers wrote that our Creator gives us unalienable rights that government must protect.

**Educating the Electorate is Key:**
As time passed, standards have lowered for spiritual, political, economic, and historical literacy in America. Many Americans today respond more passionately by a speaker's style rather than his/her substance. Without a basic knowledge of American history and heritage, voters make decisions on how candidates make them feel rather than on what's best for the nation. Sadly, in today's society, belligerent ignorance is as highly valued as diligent study. Go to a comment section of any political blog and you'll see the truth of this statement. Character is something that matters more than reputation, but too often voters vote based on reputation. Our founders gave us a nearly perfect form of government, that combined responsibility and accountability. It gave us the responsibility to hold our government accountable for its actions. However, in our prosperity, we have been lulled to sleep. Sadly, most of us think the type of government we have is a democracy. The better educated can proudly say that we have a republic. However, among those that know this, don't know the true difference. There are two reasons for this: (1) We are prosperous, which has made us comfortable, which led us to allow our officials to do as they pleased with little serious scrutiny and as generations passed, we grew less and less educated or interested and (2) The deliberate "dumbing down" of our education system to an effort to enslave the public through ignorance and prepare them for world government.

Some Fights Are Worth Making**:**
In the Revolution, the brave defiance to tyranny shows how the colonists risked their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to stand up for what was right, and we know that they fought a long and bloody war and ultimately survived to birth a free nation. However, it's easy to forget that they attempted, repeatedly, to offer the "olive branch" to King George III and Parliament. They had a deep yearning for peace and harmony. America had a destiny other than being a British colony. The patriots who rose up against England were willing to stand up for what was right. Without justice, there can be no peace. Who wouldn't want peace and tranquility over war and death? Everyone. It's important to remember the true sacrifice made by those who went up against the British in 1776.

**Symbols of the Oppression of Liberty:**
Between the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and the formation of "country states" by the beginning of the crusades some 500+ years later, an interesting symbol began dotting the landscape of Europe - the castle. Once Rome fell and power was transplanted eastward to Constantinople and the remaining authority in Rome disintegrated, the landscape was open to ambitious princes and dukes. It became evident that might ruled the day and slaughter an conquest was the secret to advancement. As hundreds of princes scattered across Europe made claims to noble blood lines, they constructed castles on every possible hilltop and cliff to project their hegemony. With banditry and violence everywhere, peasants needed protection and were herded into villages within retreatable distance to the local castle. Castles became symbols of the oppression of ancient liberties as the peasants, or serfs, were not free. The peasantry wasn't ignorant to what was happening - the resented the grabbing of power at their own expense. There were some notable results, but in reality there was little the poorly armed, unorganized peasantry could do. It is a shame that in our own day the encroachments on our freedoms aren't as visible as the castles of the Dark Ages. We, too, like the peasants of old, are losing our freedoms as the rule of law gradually disappears. The structures being built today are more that of big government and bureaucracy. Just as the serfs longed for a Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) in Europe, one day Americans will be yearning for the good old days of representative government. In the Dark Ages in Europe, common people were not sufficiently informed or knowledgeable of the changes creeping in around them, and they never organized in a fashion that would blunt the trends effectively. In our society today, we may be faced with the same combination. The average American is uninformed about the erosion of freedoms. We need to be educated, share valuable information that we educate ourselves with, and be active in the political process, AKA, vote. We don't have to be serfs, watching the construction of a castle with fear and trembling. Lack of being educated growing in America. [|Click here]

**A Fundamental Change in Thinking:**
The "Greatest Generation" were raised in the Great Depression and were hardened by struggle and want. They were called to help stop Fascism in Europe and imperialism in the Pacific. World War II saw a lot of death and devastation as well as suffering from families who lost a family member or friend. The WWII generation came back home and tried plugging back into normal lives. The war devastation around the world depleted the globe of industry and the U.S. quickly filled the void. As a result, the economy boomed. Time got good, luxuries were invented almost daily, and conveniences abounded. The children of this Greatest Generation had quite a different life and when "their war" (Vietnam) came, the Hippie movement began. The mindset of this generation was different from their parents. Somehow, America fundamentally changed. This new generation grew more radical as many who were anti-Capitalist and wanted more of a bigger government and secular society grew up and filled positions in universities, journalism, the arts, Hollywood, government, and education. This is why Secular-Progressivism is widely viewed as good by most media, endorsed in colleges, and glorified in movies. Our Founding Fathers knew that if Americans ever forgot the fundamentals of freedom, America would decline. Today, we have somehow crafted a national mindset largely opposed to the thought processes that shaped our nation and supported the heroics of the Greatest Generation. We have indoctrinated almost two generations with a progressive/socialist mindset that government can solve all problems. This has left us with out of control spending and debt and a big government. If mis-education got us into the mess, then proper education can get us out of it.

**Junkets on the Ship of State:**
In 1927, a group of intellectuals embarked on a trip to Europe and Asia with the overall objective to gather information about the great Bolshevik (Communist takeover) experiment in Russia. Two of them were Stuart Chase and F.J. Schlink, the founders of //Consumer Reports// magazine. Another was peace activist Roger Baldwin, who founded the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Union men, magazine writers, and college professors made up the rest of the crew. This group was entirely progressives who favored a socialistic economic system. They went back home with stars in their eyes even as Stalin sent people to the gulags for mass executions. The trends of that day were aligned with these intellectuals in that age and it didn't take long for them, the people they supported, and the candidates they advanced to begin implementing more and more government control on the American public. Herbert Hoover won the presidency pretty easily in 1928 since his party had overseen the Roaring 20s. However, Hoover wasn't like Coolidge or Harding before. The 1929 stock market crash did not shut down banks or cause mass suicides in record numbers as myths often say. However, Hoover used this economic downturn to meddle in industry and municipalities. A normal correction in the inflated stock exchange due to massive economic growth was perfectly normal. They question many should ask is why was there a depression within the depression (1933 and 1934 were worse than 1929 and 1930) and then a recession in 1937 within the depression? This brings us back to the "boatload of meddlers" who were duped into believing all the emerging economic theories of their time - theories that involved faulty economic assumptions and recommended more and more government interference in the money supply, markets, international trade, and spending. This meddling caused bank runs, took a small incident and prolonged it through the 1930s, and is what stretched a short, normal, economic correction into an international catastrophe. The actions of the following decade (1930s) would lead to the start of big government and the welfare state (remember the two major 1936 Supreme Court decisions). This belief is a major part of America today with the thinking that government can solve all problems and therefore should involve itself in the affairs of economics and enterprise.

The following analogy tells what happens - it's as if a doctor went to an international conference and was told that certain pills would make a patient's cold go away, but makes the cold worse, but rather than stopping is encouraged by others to keep given more; the patients gets worse and worse and must go on life support; the doctors all then congratulate themselves for keep the patient alive and can't believe the audacity of a person who is not a doctor and suggests that the patient didn't need any medicine in the first place because the cold would have gone away. In government, intellectuals operate under the false assumption that bureaucrats in D.C. know better than our Founding Fathers, the ones who set up America's free enterprise that led to prosperity along with representative government and individual freedom.

We have no need to take junkets to foreign countries looking for gold in their government strategies. We need to merely look at our own effective history. Forming more and more government agencies to "fix problems" is only killing the patient.

**Softness and Socialism:**
History tells us many stories...some good, some bad, some happy, some tragic. In America today, however, we have every accommodation and luxury from good and plentiful food to effective and accessible medicines to air conditioning and refrigeration. In the U.S., we live (for the most part) in peace, comfort, and ease. This modern living has produced a population of people who are soft and spoiled, unaccustomed to struggle or suffering and quick to whine and complain about trivial things like coffee being too hot or flight was delayed by weather. Luxury and peace, comfort and accommodation have bred people devoid of grit and toughness. There is another weakening aspect that has increased in our society - socialistic thinking. Younger generations are increasingly voting under the mentality of viewing power of government as good, that entitlements are a right, and that the government can make everything fair and equal. Great civilizations historically fell from within. Softness and socialism are not good for a great civilization. What does history show us happens to civilizations that ignore lessons from the past? Pain and suffering.

**Freedom Under Fire - From Republic to Empire to ?:**
We have a proud history and a great nation. Though we've had negatives in our history (slavery, treatment of the Native Americans, discrimination), today we have a bigger problem - infringement of personal freedoms. The bigger the government and the more control the government has over the individual, the less individual freedom there is. There is financial meddling that is hurting Americans. When the Federal Reserve prints money, inflation creeps in as the dollar is devalued and a decrease in spending power results. This effectively becomes another tax on the honest, hard-working American who happens to NOT have access to all the printed money. Politicians have gotten good at selling votes. Laws, laws, and more laws; taxes, taxes, and more taxes; meanwhile, we lose more and more freedoms. Rome was originally a republic until the people were relying more and more on the government and when competing power factions got too tough and dangerous, the people cried out for help - to them, tyranny was better than anarchy. So, Rome became an empire. The people traded freedom for security, and got neither. If we look to the government to solve the problems that it created, we are like a hypochondriac taking more and more medicines to counteract the side effects of others we have already taken. Eventually, we become addicted and numb to the situation.

In America today, free enterprise is often under attack as those who work hard and earn are often criticized if they make "too much" money. In our politically correct culture, we often don't talk about the family structure because it might "offend someone." However, the cold hard truth is that the breakdown of the family has put a financial strain on many workers and has led to an increase in those receiving or needing social welfare benefits. Marriage was the bedrock of a stable society since marriage was the precursor to children and raising children in a moral and ethical way was necessary for society to continue moving in a positive direction. Children are best raised in a stable home with a mother and father (according to studies). Our PC culture shies away from discussing this because it's often called "judgmental" or might "hurt someone's feelings." Until some of these social issues are properly addressed, our decline will continue (if history is a guide). [|Current issue] analyzing breakdown of the family in relation to poverty

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