Forgotten Wisdom

I promised at the outset of this endeavor to avoid as much as possible controversies political.  And I hope that this week’s offering does not violate that stand.  But I am much troubled as of late by the state of the debate regarding the proper role of government in our country.  My intent with this missive is not to promote one political philosophy or agenda.  Rather, I want to look to the source philosophy and template intended to illuminate our path to individual freedom.  It is very important that the reader fully comprehend the content of the previous sentence.  The key word, in case you missed it, is individual.

If you read the founding fathers, you will learn that the revolution was not per se against the nation of England or the empire of the United Kingdom. It was against the tyranny of non-representative government.  The American revolutionaries were not about forming a new society.  They were happy with the culture and tradition from whence they came.  What drove them to revolt was the heavy hand of government control.  They petitioned King George III for the same rights granted residents of the home isle.  It was only when these were denied that they moved to create a separate state.  And the foundation of that state was the aforementioned individual liberty. This principle is woven into the language of our founding documents:  The Declaration of Independence, in which the Continental Congress cast off the yoke of absentee government; and the Constitution of the United States of America, the foundation of which is the limitation of governmental powers in favor of citizens’ natural rights.

 But alas, in today’s media coverage, it seems all thought turns to party political advantage.  When laws are proposed that seemingly violate constitutional restraint, the debate does not turn to the original intent but instead a thesis on the merits of the debated legislation.  This is heresy. The first and last concern for any proposed grant of additional government power should always be conformance to constitutional limits.

There is a nonsensical debate couched in the language “living or dead” status as pertains to the state of the Constitution.  Those who wish to expand the reach of government call the Constitution a living document and those who labor to restrain it as dead.  Let’s put this notion to bed right now.  The Constitution is a living document because it is the supreme law of the land and the test against which all subordinate legislation is assessed.  It is living because there is a mechanism for change when necessary.  In their wisdom and understanding of the passions of man however, the Constitutional Convention designed the amendment process to be difficult, forestalling capricious and self-serving change.

I offer to the reader some bits of wisdom that taken at face value illuminate the path by which we should be governing our nation:

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force.  Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master". – George Washington

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.  This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circlue of our felicities.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Power always thinks… that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all his laws.” – John Adams

“If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.” – Thomas Jefferson

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” – John Adams

“Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected.  No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.” – James Madison

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

“To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” – George Washington

“Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty.” – John Adams

“The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it.  You have to catch up with it yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” – George Washington

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. – Thomas Jefferson.

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” – Thomas Jefferson

“There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied, and which, therefore, more needs elucidation, than the current one, that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong.” – James Madison

“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” – Thomas Jefferson

 “It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.” – George Washington

 “Fear is the foundation of most governments.” – John Adams

 “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means.  I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.” – Benjamin Franklin

 “The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” – James Madison

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” – James Madison