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.

 Governors that address individual needs by limiting unalienable rights step backward toward totalitarianism and monarchy.  America’s “Great Experiment” has survived for 244 years; can it ultimately survive?  Will common men and women be able to sustain “self governance”? Is it wise to have government think for us, make our decisions and limit our ability to pursue our happiness; or would we rather live free and unencumbered; free to succeed or fail based on ability to cope with daily challenges?

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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