So whence cometh the
idea that they should be all powerful or be able to dictate to you, a citizen,
what you can do, what you will be paid, where you shall work, for whom, how
long, your health care etc., etc.? Here again, history has taught us, or should
have, that it is power that begets authority and it is power that seeks control and
becomes corrupt.
The Founding Fathers
who created the Constitution must have understood all of that plus a great deal
more about human nature and man’s lust for power. Otherwise, why would they have worked so hard
to establish a government with defined limits of authority and power? The importance of freedom was never very far
from their thinking. Understanding that
despite how hard they might try, they would never be able to create a document
that would prevent the usurpation of power by those individuals who, whether
intentionally or unintentionally, desire to control others and bend or distort the agreed-upon limitations to their own desires or
benefit.
Instead of understanding
and agreeing to abide by the rules of the game as detailed in the Constitution,
we have seen even, in our nation’s short history, an unbelievable twisting,
interpolation of ideas or outright violation of the restraints stipulated. Businesses have sought government
intervention to protect them from competitors or to achieve a preferential
position to receive contracts or regulations targeted toward their interests.
We’ve seen the
growth of lobbying to the point where it has become a billion dollar profession
of its own. What
are the benefits for the average citizen?
It would be difficult if not impossible to define. Yet, those who practice the profession exert great influence on the
direction of the country as well as the regulation of commerce and industry.
The most distinguishing feature of the American founding was
that it recognized a “higher authority” than man! In the opening paragraphs of the Declaration
of Independence, Jefferson penned the words, “ . . . to assume . . . equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them . . .”
Those few words established for what followed that the Founders would be
responsible for their acts and commitments to more than just other human
beings.
It is doubtful that man could create a universe, let alone
one that functions in equilibrium. The
riddle of the universe remains unsolved and perhaps never will be. What is important, however, is that we
recognize that man is imperfect and that the governments he/she creates will
suffer from the same inability to achieve perfection. The Founders knew this as Ben Franklin
expressed when commenting on the Constitution, “Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution
because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the
best.”
We have over 200 years of operation under the
Constitution. While we adhered to its
dictums, for the most part, during our 1st 100 years, there is no
question but what from 1900 on we have been trending away from our foundation. Government has become unbridled, a riderless
horse. Anything goes and we have lost
our understanding of why the Founders thought there was a higher authority than
their man-made constitution. That’s my
view. What’s yours? Reach me at constitutionviews@gmail.com © Copyright 2015 Hillard W. Welch
