There are two predominant belief systems regarding the conduct and organization of human society. The first is derived from the “Old World” which stems from the conviction that government is the grantor and protector of human rights; and, is responsible for protecting and providing for the poor and down-trodden subjects. Most of the “Old World” governments were dictatorships. The consequences of this philosophy resulted in compulsion, slavery and poverty throughout the “Old World.”
The ancient Celts and Scots were the first to challenge this “Old World” belief system. In 1320, Scotland’s major clergy and great barons sent a letter to the Pope, the Declaration of Arbroath. This Declaration was revolutionary in that it expressed the people of Scotland’s “desire for freedom and the right to choose their own government.”
Inspired by the ancient Celts, Irish and Scots, and the teachings of the “Scottish Enlightenment,” this “Old World” belief system was successfully challenged by early American colonists and a new belief system emerged. In 1776, the Founders, in particular, Thomas Jefferson, changed this “Old World” view with the conviction that individuals had certain pre-existing inalienable rights that were the basis of legitimate government; that any government, to be legitimate, cannot infringe on these pre-existing inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or property. They enshrined this belief system, a belief in individual freedom, in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments.
This new belief system—that human beings were free and not born into slavery—reached a fork in the road in 1913 with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act, creating a central bank; the ratification of the 16th Amendment, granting Congress the power to tax incomes; and, the ratification of the 17th Amendment, taking power away from the State Legislatures by providing for the popular election of U.S. Senators. The stage was set to replace the American Constitutional Republic, with guarantees protecting individual rights, with a Democratic Society, controlled and manipulated by the power-elites within government and academia. By 1917, all States required compulsory schooling. Government-controlled compulsory schooling became the propaganda machine used to dumb-down the masses.
According to Dr. Walter E. Williams: “During earlier periods, Congress and the Supreme Court had far greater respect for the Constitution. They understood that if the federal government was to have a power not delegated, or expressly forbidden, by the Constitution, they had to use the provisions of Article V to gain power by amendment. ..Today, it’s an entirely different story. Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court have abiding contempt for the Constitution and . . . Americans are left with a constitutional carcass.”
For the past 80-to-100 years, the U.S. Constitution has been reinterpreted and/or ignored when convenient, granting greater power to Government and trampling on individual freedom. As a result, the Constitution is no longer a Doctrine for Freedom. The Constitution has been converted to a Doctrine supporting Slavery.
As stated by Dr. Robert Higgs, “One need only open one’s eyes to the clear historical trend. The United States verges ever closer to totalitarianism, yet at every moment the bulk of America’s people and most of its intellectuals insist we live in a free country. . . For a very long time, [Americans] have rested content with the Myth of the Land of the Free; they have accepted creature comforts, lavish entertainments, and the illusion of security as good substitutes for living in a free country. Such disregard of reality allows them to drift steadily toward a whirlpool of tyranny from which they will be unable to escape.”
Right now, the masses have been convinced that the Constitution is a document that allows for the majority to decide the fate of all Americans. What they do not realize is this interpretation allows the power-elites in control of government to enslave their fellow Americans; and ultimately, themselves.
There is no middle-ground, you either believe in freedom or you believe in slavery. Today, Americans by-and-large have unwittingly chosen slavery. Our only hope is to remove power from Washington DC by repealing the 16th Amendment; and, separating Education from the State or getting rid of government-controlled compulsory schooling.
Dum Spiro, spero—While I breathe I hope.
Slainte mhath,
Robert G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.
