A View of the Constitution
guest post by Theorist D
The U.S Constitution is a contract between the citizens of the United States and their government. The Citizens of the United States pay taxes to their government, the contractor, so the government may provide security and act as a neutral arbiter in conflict. Payment of taxes by citizens obligates the government to provide national security of both a physical and a financial nature. This security allows citizens to spend their time and resources pursuing their own self interest. Ultimately, this paradigm places U.S. citizens as superior to the government, which naturally places the government in a position of inferiority. Due to a combination of political ambition and public apathy, this paradigm has been inverted over the past 200 years.
We no longer find citizens as the dictators of public policy, but rather government as the micromanager of private life. Government heavily influences individuals through regulations and tax policy by picking who starts businesses, and what business opportunities may be pursued. Opportunities perceived by government as “for the public good” are blessed by government’s removal of inhibitory regulations or by the award of tax credits. On the other hand, opportunities and pursuits to which government is either indifferent, or perceives as “contrary to the public good” are rendered nearly impossible through regulation and taxation. This attack on individualism is diabolically opposed to our founding document’s statement that each citizen “has a right to live, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The best way to reverse this trend of government intrusion is to teach and advocate the same rigid individualism applauded in our founding documents. Succeeding generations must be taught that the United States Constitution is a contract for security and procedure, providing for the pursuit of their dreams and interests. At the same time, they must also be taught that the United States Constitution is NOT a contract for governmental micromanagement.
Posted on February 18, 2010, in Liberty, National Politics and tagged Constitution. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
I’ve always been at a loss to understand how people get the idea that the federal government is superior to the States or the people. The Constitution is pretty clear that the federal government doesn’t get to do much of anything unless it is specifically permitted to, and THAT list is both short and specific.
That’s a good point about the public’s role. How many people prefer that the government take an active role in their lives rather than a limited government?
Theorist D, thank you for your interesting essay. I have a question regarding national security. Specifically, the authority to take us to war.
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution grants the sole power to declare war to the Congress.
The last declaration of war was issued in December of 1941. We have fought very many wars in the last seventy years and none of them have been declared by the Congress as the Constitution requires.
The Founding Fathers wrote extensively on this subject. They recognized that by necessity a great deal of power would accrue to the executive branch in the conduct of a war. They knew that if the executive had the power to start wars it might do so in order to increase and hold more power in relation to the other branches than was ever intended. That is why they put the power to declare war in the hands of Congress rather than the president. They were crystal clear about this in everything they wrote on the subject.
My question is this. How might we stop the illegal and unconstitutional use by the president of the war making authority? How do we get back to what our Founding Fathers intended? That is, that we do not go to war absent a proper declaration from the Congress.
@ Dan, Great point. I would like to hear Theorist D’s thoughts on national security, declarations of war, and the war powers act.
The question of the proper delegation of Congressional authority to the Executive persists as a nebulously difficult issue. It’s no surprise how this issue has intensified with the exponential expansion of the federal government over the past decade.
Good point. The constitution is promulgated in order to promote the welfare of the citizenry but it has been used to advance the political interest at the expense of the many. The constitution is made for man, not man for the constitution.