Coming back to Earth

I haven't posted for a while.

Frankly I have been so emotionally affected by the events of the last month or so that its just not been possible to put my thoughts to paper (so to speak). Glen Beck calls this effect having blood shoot from your eyes. Its just been overwhelming. I am regaining my equilibrium, so I am back, and I think its time for a quick history lesson. In these events are really important political concepts, which I have highlighted.

First, the Mayflower Experiment. Those who came to the New World agreed to certain rules about how their society would be run. One of the things that they agreed to was that everyone would work to gather and raise food. It would go into a common "store" and it would be available as it was needed by the participants. Nifty idea, everyone works, everyone benefits. (AKA Socialism) Unfortunately, human nature kicked in. Some people realized they could go to the "store" without having worked to contribute to the goods. In reality it turned out that there was not enough food for the people who needed it.

So, they changed the rules. Instead of working for the common good, each individual was provided with a specific plot of land and they were able to keep all the food they were able to produce on their tract of land. This worked out much better. People worked hard and provided for themselves. Some even had extra and shared with those unable to do for themselves. Amazingly they discovered the secret to success for the greatest country in history: People will work harder to further their own lot than they will when their labors go to a common pot and are distributed "fairly" amongst the community.

Later, as the country's population grew, cities were established. After all, we are not all cut out to be farmers. Some people ran taverns (the equivalent of early American restaurants), others were blacksmiths or glass blowers. Newspapers sprung up, doctors and dentist setup practice. People found ways meet needs others would pay for, so they could provide for themselves. In this way they could trade their time (either a service, a labor, or the fruit of their labor) for the goods they needed to live. Welcome Capitalism to the New World!

Funny thing about earning your own money. You just don't want someone else to tell you how to spend it. The United States of America exists because a group of individuals decided that no one -even a King- should be deciding how to spend their money, or run their lives, without someone involved in the decisions representing the them. You remember this phrase from US History right? No Taxation without Representation.

Most of the names you remember from Revolutionary history started out as loyal Englishmen. They didn't want to break away from England, the just wanted the King to see them as participating subjects with a say in legal affairs, and not as an endless source of revenue with nothing in return. The King was not predisposed to take their opinions into consideration, and kept insisting that he had the right to appropriate their money without their agreement.

Now if you have ever worked and earned money, you can understand why this was not acceptable to people. They had a Tea Party, instigated boycotts as a means of civil disobedience; eventually when it became unbearable, broke out the muskets and went to war to protect their right to determine their own fate. Inherent sovereignty is a big deal to Americans.

When the war was over, and America was a fledgling nation, it was necessary to develop a system of government. It took a long time, many arguments and speeches. The founding fathers developed a government that had never been tried in quite the same way anywhere else. It was pretty easy to decide what they did not want: no more despots-there needed to be a balance of powers, and everyone involved needed to answer to the people. That is a bit simplistic, but still speaks to their thinking.

It was important to them that no part of government be able to intimidate the other parts, or wrest power from them. Balance is the key to success. Yes the Legislature makes laws, the Executive does not. The Judicial does not. On the other hand, the Judicial interprets the laws and ensures they are Constitutional. So the Legislature can make all the laws they want to but if they are not Constitutional then the Judicial will strike them down. The Executive can't interpret the law. It can sign a law into existance, or veto it. But it cannot write or interpret the law. Balance. No branch of government gets ALL the power. This is one of the really important concepts of our government.

They also believed deeply in the power of the individual. They built this entire system of government with belief that each person has the power to determine their own fate. In other words, if you work hard you can be or do anything. The only real limits on your success are put in place by your willingness/unwillingness to do what is necessary to get what you want. At the time our country came into being there was some serious class demarcation. People were either wealthy or poor. There wasn't much in between. They were either educated or ignorant, and most were ignorant because there was little formal education available for the common man. Still, the founders believed that people were clever and industrious and would find a way to better their lot in life if they were willing to apply themselves.

Because they believed so much in the individual it was necessary to put extreme limits on the government. This is why the 10th Amendment says:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

In other words, Federal Government has its place. There are specific things it can and should do. Everything else belongs to the States and to the People. After all, the individual knows best what is needed in his home, his community, his part of the country. Local oversight will address local issues. We can take care of ourselves pretty well, thank you, and we do not need the Federal Government involved in every aspect of our lives. When we allow the government to take on our responsibilities we relinquish our Liberty.


Next I want to look at how these important political concepts are important today.