Pros and Cons

The decisions made throughout life has its “pros and cons”. Decisions of those that rule and operate a government has a larger impact upon our lives than too many people ignore and take for granted. The pros must outweigh the cons.

Anyone who has studied the development of our Constitution and those who were responsible for its construction cannot honestly say they were not wise men. The principle drafters had knowledge of the history of civilization and gleaned from that knowledge successful aspects of all. It took them 116 days to produce a draft and great discussion that became published for citizen readership collected into what has become known as the Federalist Papers.

Descendants of the original American colonists knew the pitfalls of a socialized community from the failings of early settlements in the New World. They knew the pros and cons of a democracy where essentially it becomes mob rule that ultimately produces tyrants who pretends they rule for the people. That ultimate form of democracy invariably becomes socialism and in turn progresses to communism, as even Karl Marx, founder of Marxism, admitted.

“And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy” --- Plato

As Plato knew, a democracy can easily be commandeered to establish a totalitarian state.

“The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.” Thomas Jefferson

“Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” — John Adams

The Founders knew the pros and cons of a republic form of government as well and that for its success there must be rule of law laced with elements of democracy where the government is truly “for the people and by the people” and rights and liberties are guaranteed by law. This the enactment of amendments where the first ten were considered a Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment was created under the principles of the Swiss militia where all citizens become defenders when needed and thereby allowed to be armed. Today some states do not recognize or heed to the principle of the Second Amendment where the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. While each state has separate governance, the Federal government, the central government, must ensure that ALL states comply and that is the task of the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The Constitution of the United States is the Supreme law of the land and through state ratification, all states of the Union MUST comply.

The "supreme law of the land" is noted in the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which is found in Article VI, Clause 2. It means that federal law overrides individual state's laws if a conflict in statute occurs. It also requires state judges to uphold federal law over state law thereby making it the supreme law of the land.

There is also a clause concerning limited government in Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution. That has been ignored for too long for various reasons, mainly because the people have grown accustomed to selling their votes for promises of politicians that make people wards of the state, when those issues should always be rested within the confines of the public sector based upon individuals versus the collective. It is the collective that makes the gist of Marxism, while the constitutional republic principles lie within the individual among union of people.

Today we find ourselves at a critical crossroad between retention of the constitutional republic or further into the mechanization of socialism progressing toward communism – both Marxist ideals that lead to uniform misery and economic disaster. Utopia is a fantasy and no form of government can attain such standard, not even our constitutional republic. Yet upon intellectual examination, one can see that our form of republican government has proven to be the best ever devised in human history. Its success can only be attained if the People responsibly choose their elected officials whose task is to operate OUR government and ensure that they maintain its principles that were set forth by the Founders and the amendments enacted over time.

In a side and final note, I would like to add that the 16^th Amendment should never have been enacted (just as the Prohibition amendment) and that the federal tax system should have remained a consumption tax and not an income tax. Prohibition finally ended, but the income tax remained, becoming more complex, more unfair, and providing the Internal Revenue Service too much power defying due process. Consumption tax is more manageable and efficient. It is why I have been an advocate of the Fair Tax Act (H.R. 25) for over almost 20 years.

FURTHER READING:

Our Constitution: Primer to Our Republic and its Founders, Keith Allen Lehman, 2019

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius, Amazon Kindle & Paperback

The Founders: 39 Stories Behind the U.S. Constitution, Dennis Brindell, Fradin & Michael McCurdy, 2005

Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Adrienne Koch, et al, 1998