17.11.05
I'm in lovely Pueblo COlorado, visiting my old roomate Tyler Watts and his lovely wife Jeanna, as well as my God daughter, the incredibly gorgeous Ms Emma Jean Watts!!! |28.9.05
While for much of American history the Constitution was the focal point of civics instruction and education, in the later half of the 20th Century the Declaration of Independence has resumed its rightful position. Though simply a declaration of secession without the force of law inherent in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence contains statements of philosophic principles deeply ingrained in the signatories’ character and found throughout the later Constitution. The distinguished author of the Declaration of Independence envisioned a land whose governments were based on the rule of law, dedicated to the belief in the right of individuals to live their lives free from unjust deprivation of property and government oppression. Above all, the Declaration of Independence was grounded solidly upon the principle that governments derive their just powers only from the consent of the governed. To defend this principle the drafters voluntarily offered to, in Lockean fashion, hazard everything, mutually pledging “to each other, our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
Thus the Declaration was based on the principle that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights”. Furthermore, to protect and “secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed”. Continuing, the Declaration states that the people have the right to “alter or abolish” any government that fails to secure these God-given rights, creating and instituting a new government in such a fashion as to “effect their Safety and Happiness.”
They tried. Through failed experiments under the Articles of Confederation it became apparent that a more vigorous central government was necessary to provide the protection of rights sought and described by the Declaration To better secure their hard-won rights and liberties, the Constitution’s framers met in Philadelphia to create a government energetic enough to fulfill its numerous responsibilities, yet within specific limits designed to check its growth beyond its delegated sphere of imperium. Intended to preserve and secure property rights claimed in the Declaration, the Constitution created a federate, republican system of government designed to protect and defend liberty from government. It forbade the violations of individual rights the British committed prior to the revolution, including suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, torture, perpetual surveillance, seizure upon suspicion without a probable cause, abolishment of Posse Comitatus, and warrant-less searches of a person and his property.
The new Constitution was specifically designed to protect the rights of individuals and the pre-existent powers of the States while forestalling the possibility of the eventual emergence of tyrannical government. To achieve this end, the framers entrenched structural limits into the Constitution. Moreover, to provide protection, the framers of the Constitution implemented the unique and ingenious system of government which composes the central government of the
Divided into Articles, the Constitution was specifically designed to prevent repetitions of the tyrannical abuses of power by the English Parliament condemned so strongly in the Declaration. Most prominent among these is Article I, Section 8, which defines the limits of the branch of government closest to the sovereigns, the people. It grants Congress authority only for the accomplishments of specific constitutionally permitted aims.
In addition to establishing this strong system of checks and balances within the three branches of government, the Constitution provided an even more important system, the system of divided sovereignty. Complete with sovereignties within sovereignties, imperium in imperio, this dual federal system was designed specifically to deal with the conception of just government the signers of the Declaration of Independence maintained; a system where the government protects the natural pre-existing, God-given rights of the people. Under the system of dual sovereignty, the enforcement of the Constitution was neither left to some government administrator, nor its interpretation solely to a life-tenured government judiciary. Instead, it was to be enforced at its most fundamental level, by the parties to its articles, the people of the several States.
The framers of the Constitution were aware of the inherently evil tendencies of government, its propensity to gather power onto itself until it reigns as a single monolith over all its subjects. They recognized that no matter what a parchment says, liberty is dependent upon the republican character and virtues of its citizenry, and they labored to create a system which fostered rather than hampered these crucial civic virtues. To forestall the possibility of the emergence of such despotism, the framers conceived a brilliant plan, the creation of an extra-governmental system of checks and balances. As a result, the Constitution they created mandated and enforced an atmosphere of divided loyalty to the State and to the federal government. The object of this Constitution was specifically to create a “more perfect
This States’ “rights” tradition promoted and fueled psychological opposition to any attempt at nationalization of power. It was recognized that both State and federal governments would be jealous of the affections of the citizenry, both would strive for their loyalties by offering better protection of natural rights, allowing neither to focus on self-aggrandizement. Thus the founders clearly understood that a government could not become absolutist without a monopoly on the loyalty of their citizens. Though within its structure there are defenses of Lockean natural rights theory found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution’s Bill of Rights most clearly demonstrates its pedigree.
The Bill of Rights apply equally to all departments and branches of government, and simply enumerate rights without grant, in essence, recognizing the pre-existent natural rights of human beings. Moreover, they act as a further negative force on the aggrandizement of central power. The First Amendment acknowledges freedom of conscience, banning federal intervention in private religious beliefs. The Second recognizes that despotic governments seek to disarm the citizenry and to counter this threat the amendment helps guarantee the right to “throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.” That is, the right to revolution found in the Declaration. The next three amendments all specifically forbid central government interference with, or violation of, the individual unalienable right to private property. The Ninth Amendment explicitly guarantees that the power grants in the Constitution are limited to their literal English meaning; thus ensuring that the federal government has been notified that the rights enumerated in the Constitution are in no way reflective of the great mass of residual rights and powers the sovereign people possess. The following amendment, the 10th, simply underscores the nature of the Constitution, proclaiming that the central government only possesses those powers delegated to it by the Constitution: all other powers reside with the States or the people.
Though the Constitution largely followed and enacted the principles and promise of the Declaration of Independence, it compromised the core principles of the Declaration in several key areas. Foremost amongst the compromises is the problem of those held in the bondage of involuntary servitude. The Declaration of Independence states unequivocally that “all men are created equal,” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” among which are “Life,
11.8.05
I'm in Minnesota, Brit and I are broken up, and I have a job offer for about 40K a year...not too shabby, but I'd trade it for a healthy relationship-Anyway, I'm off to bed. |2.8.05
MUhahahahaha |25.3.05
New Web blog folks, I'll occasionally post on this one though....http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=GoDutch
Later |
8.3.05
Well, I switched rooms yesterday, and now I occupy a 3 person room...complete with 3 beds, which have managed to make one large bed for me ;-) In any case, I got up early and went to the gym this morning, I go tuesday and thurdsay at 6 and sunday afternoons in addition to using some of the free weights I have here with me and running on the aqueduct behind the foundation. I have to get back to work. Tschuss! |3.3.05
Hello,While I haven't managed to recently update my blog I did think that I should at least attempt to post on it every few days. Hopefully I remember...
As previously mentioned in a post, I am now working at the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, living east of Michigan for reasons other than vacation for the first time. I live in the 3rd floor of a marvelous old mansion overlooking the Hudson, I have all the ammenties necessary for comfortable life, or rather, a tolerable existance, and though for a few weeks I didn't see all that many great things about living and working in the same place, I am actually greatly enjoying myself now.
I wake daily at around 8:50-shower-return to my room soaking wet in a towel to discover that once again I have showered for 11 minutes and I'm late for work downstairs. Stumbling to throw my clothes on I usually step on something incredibly painful in my room, perhaps an old broken hanger I've neglected to pick up and disgard for months, perhaps a razor sharp pen, callously left on the floor after a late-night reading session. I grab a few vitamins, rip my cell phone and its charger directly from the powerstrip lurking for me beneath my feet when I awake and spring from bed, stuffing them into my right pocket I frantically rip piles of laundry of quite dubious condition apart in an often vain quest for clean matching socks. Inevitably, I fail to find any in the 5 seconds I have available for this search and I settle for a pair that either doesn't smell too bad or that doesn't match...stuffing them into my left pocket, I tuck in my shirt, hastily-almost strangle myself putting on my tie of the day, almost rip it off again trying to breathe, thunder half-way down the stairs, only to remember my immediate superior at the bottom, I pause, contemplate turning around and going down the stairs at the other end of the long upstairs hall. Then I decide, what the heck, I walk down and sigh with relief and cross myself despite not being a catholic. Turning the corner, I thunder down the other set of stairs, through the mailroom into my office. I collapse to recuperate from everything in my chair, grateful to have escaped. Then my day begins. |