Our Federated Republic
Independence Day, for as long as I remember, has been a time for a little quiet reflection on the blessing God gave me to be born and live free in the U.S.A. I first wrote this blog article on July 4, 2016 and am amending it today.
AWO
Life, Liberty, The Pursuit of Happiness
2016
Amended 2020
Art Olstead
“We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed”. Thomas Jefferson; Declaration of Independence, 4, July 1776
These unalienable rights are further defined by the Bill of
Rights. Ratified 1779
Happiness depends on the extent to which our needs are satisfied. Basic needs (food, shelter and clothing) must be met before individuals can pursue self actualization; determined by the extent to which cognitive ability is nurtured.
The U. S. Constitution guarantees our unalienable rights and is unique in the history of nations. That document says nothing about needs. It protects the liberty and guarantees the rights of the citizens of the various United States.
In recent years political discourse has co-mingled unalienable rights with human needs. The drive for government to guarantee needs is expressed in terms of “social justice.” For several decades’ now a strong centralized government, speaking to the needs of micro-groups at the expense of macro-groups, has operated outside the bounds of our Constitution.
Satisfied human needs make the lives of free people tolerable. In nature individuals are responsible for meeting their needs. Government of and by the people; makes it possible for society to exist. Unalienable rights define a free civil society. A functioning government guarantees the unalienable rights that allow society to develop and individuals to freely self actualize to satisfy needs. Our constitution guarantees our Right to Self Defense, Freedom, Liberty, and Justice. We organize socially to provide opportunities and satisfy needs, some of which are education, shelter, food, employment, and personal welfare.
Citizens within our Federal Republic gather freely to create a voice that advocates an agenda. When enough gather the advocacy is heard and may initiate action for change in law. The process is orderly and evolutionary. An advocacy is not guaranteed to succeed but it is guaranteed to be tolerated.
When advocates disrupt the general order and tranquility in an attempt to amplify voice the process becomes revolutionary. For a time revolutions operate outside the law and imperil the established rights of citizens. Disruptive revolutionary advocacy can only succeed by tolerance or coercion. Societal tolerance of a revolution will be reflected in new law. Revolutionary coercion burdens the revolutionaries with the responsibility to develop a new government. The Revolution of 1776 coerced the abdication of the British Sovereign and established our Federated Republic under the U.S. Constitution.
To quote Bob Dylan, “The answer is blowing in the wind.” Ask yourself if, in two hundred years, your ancestors will still enjoy the Freedom, Liberty and Justice you inherited?
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