The spark for this squib is fear, a fear of not just where our once republic is going, but where it is.
A government designed to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, (and) promote the general welfare,” not only doesn’t work toward these ends, it promotes policies that operate in direct opposition to them.
The high criminals of the Obama administration will never be subject to the justice they deserve. Occupy Wallstreet, Black Lives Matter, and DNC supported riots at Trump rallies foment discord rather than ensure domestic tranquility. Common Defense? Purposely importing koranimals undermines the general welfare of the society upon which all republics depend.
As a consequence, our rulers instill fear.
Are you patriotic in that old fashioned 18th century constitutional sense, but do you typically keep your mouth shut when it comes to violating political correctness? Do you wonder if donating money or time to a conservative cause will mark you for an IRS audit? Are you reluctant to display political bumper stickers or express opposition to homosexual marriage and phony climate change? Do you think the democrat efforts to ruin the lives of Catherine Engelbrecht, Tom Delay, Rick Perry, Bob McDonnell through lawfare has cowered conservatives? Do you fear what a psycho president Hillary will do to her enemies and our nation? Do you obey and respect laws in the comfort of knowing they were composed by fellow citizens who live under the same laws, or do you obey the multitude of laws and executive regulations as best you can out of fear? When various victim groups demand removal of Confederate War Memorials, can eradication of the history of our founding be far behind?
These and other legitimate fears on the part of the people typify despotic states; they are antithetical to life in republican society. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, because the “spring” of republics is virtue.
In The Spirit of the Laws (1748), Charles de Montesquieu examined that which sets, or springs monarchies, republics, and despotisms into motion. As applied to the United States, our republic was actuated by a distinct political virtue that embraced love of one’s country and love of equality set within a framework of the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God. That space in which men were free to do as they wished was called liberty, and no nation enjoyed more of it than America.
The safety of the American people is in the supreme law, our Constitution. Yet the republic it created is undone when the president, who is just a fellow citizen temporarily elevated to a position of high trust and subject to laws both statutory and supreme that govern everyone, suspends the laws as they apply to himself and his advisers. Fear replaces law when the common man is judged by a multitude of onerous and indecipherable statutes and regulations that do not apply to the president and his favorites.
Fear is the spring of despotic states. There is no occasion for virtue, for the nature of despotism requires passive, immediate obedience. Here, the immense power of the executive devolves entirely on those he decides to entrust with administration. As in 2012, is there any reason to suspect the IRS, FEC, DHS and every other executive branch agency will not work toward the destruction of conservative groups, if not the GOP nominee himself? To whom are these administrators responsible, the Constitution or the person of the president?
Fear of criticizing the president and his policies depresses the spirit and ambition of the people. Economic growth slows as the people hunker down, not to improve their condition, but to preserve what they have.
A glaring alarm in the trend toward despotism in the US can be seen in our K-16 system of education. The purpose of education in a despotic government is to debase the mind. Education must be servile and strike the heart with fear. Students have no occasion to deliberate, to doubt, to reason. Real education here is rather pointless, as illustrated in various “studies” departments that, at great expense, prepare good foot soldiers for social justice. Despotic regimes don’t allow citizens, but good slaves instead.
Actual learning here proves dangerous to both the individual and the state. Why attempt to make a good citizen? If one loves his country he will strive to break the spring of the despotic government. If he fails, he is dead. If he succeeds, it leads to the ruin of both the country and despot.
In contrast, education in a republic teaches virtue, not of the martial or self-denial sort, but rather love of the laws and country. This public, political virtue allows citizens to flourish without fear in a tranquil nation in which they find peace of mind in public prosperity, enjoyment of property, and hope of increasing it through hard work.
To inspire this love must be the principal business of education. When education of the children fails, they become degenerate and easy prey for demagogues. Republican education must be thorough and constant, lest the people lose the spring of virtue, and with it, the republic.
Fear of our rulers, of what they will do next, is no way for a once free people to live.
We are the many; our oppressors are the few. Be proactive. Be a Re-Founder. Join Convention of States.
Another great post. Thanks Rodney. I do think education is a great area to focus on, but unfortunately every area is being corroded simultaneously. As with COS, education is the long-term systematic solution. We have to have an all the above (short/long range) approach, as you point out fear and complacency (which are likely education based) are the major obstacles. In war all means necessary gets the job done. Have to have a great ground game and Air Support. What other areas of warcraft can be used as metaphors in this battle for liberty?
Join the army at http://www.conventionofstates.com
Hmmm, no additional metaphors come to mind, but you are right. The left has been making war on all that is good and decent since at least the 1950s.