We get angry when corporations don't pay their share of taxes. We get angry when politicians are busted for any of a variety of illegal activities, yet never seem to pay any price for their behaviour. We get angry when corruption makes headlines. Why do these things happen? Could it be that our politicians grant themselves and their supporters special rights that we don't enjoy? Could it be that our government gives tax breaks to companies in return for financial support? How long will we keep our eyes closed to a system perpetuating their power and our weakness?
When our country was founded it was a simple idea. Liberty could only be gained by restricting the power of the ruling class or government. This struggle against centralized power goes back to the original arguments between Jefferson and Hamilton. For example, the ability to control currency was not granted because people like Jefferson knew the awesome power of manipulating money. Our leaders learned this lesson first hand through the collapse of the Colonial currency. Those lessons hold true today. Any government arbitrarily placing value on a currency is not only lying to its citizens but it is also stealing from them. Theft through inflation coupled with the false sense of security in holding such money historically follows. While conquering its neighbors, Rome literally confiscated their gold in order to produce more currency back home. While the methods of acquiring this new gold may or may not be found desirable according to our morals, at least the currency was worth something concrete. Since we won't support a war of conquest in order to increase our wealth, our government employs a game of inflation through interest rates instead. How and why does this occur? Does it help the common citizen or harm him? Since our Constitution declares the printing of money beyond the power of the government, how is this even legal? The answer is simple. The fiat currency employed by our country destroys the value of the dollar robbing the poorest among us while rewarding the richest. Our government usurped this power, disregarding the Constitution, simply because it could and because it was in the best interests of those bankers and industry leaders supporting the politicians in power. This collaboration was an ugly example of corporatism and it has led to the growth of corporatism over the last century. This is only one example of the way our government has centralized power and money in our country.
Unfortunately our politicians have grown wiser through the years and found many more ways to rob us of both our money and our rightful political influence over the decades since then. They toss around words such as fairness, charity or humanitarianism to justify theft through taxes. They write tax codes that take an army of accountants to understand. They act as though it is within their power to forcibly take our money in order to dole it out to people, nations and causes without our consent. This is not so. We allow our government to choose which artistic programs we should support. We allow them to decide which nations will get foreign aid, many of whom I dare say we would not support if given the option. We allow them to give our money to the support of varying scientific research projects. We allow them to wage wars costing us billions if not trillions while corporations turn obscene profits. The specifics do not matter, any way you look at it the government is in the habit of choosing winners and losers through the control of spending our money in whatever way it see's fit. How does this reflect the idea of a weak central government or representative government? Why do we allow this to occur? What will it take for the citizens of the United States of America to fight for the rights bestowed upon them by their Constitution?
Part of the solution to the problem of centralized power is to re-unite the masses. Our government has managed to separate its citizens through its influence our lives. It is this influence we should rally against. Whether it is a social, economic, or religious influence we are divided against each other along lines of personal beliefs. Our government is not in existence to support or deny these beliefs. They are not in place to make these judgements. We have lost the ability to see what we have in common and instead focus on what we disagree about. When we realize that the divisions among us are supported by the legislative powers our government has taken against the Constitution we can once again see what we have in common. We all want freedom, in fact we treasure our right to disagree. However, the idea that collecting enough people to vote in politicians who will legislate for or against a certain cause only divides us. This method of forced morality will never unite our citizens. In fact, it only serves those in power by placing voters against each other instead of the common enemy of our liberty, namely the Federal Government.
So why do we fear a weak government? We fear that our vision, our morals, our very beliefs will not be forced upon those who do not agree with us. We have accepted that the only way to support or promote our personal beliefs is to gain the support of the government. This system of legislating morality goes against the idea of liberty. A government can not enforce morality without admitting that it holds the view that its people do not have the freedom to choose for themselves. We are free to believe and do anything we want as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. This is such a simple principle yet we forget the implied liberty it gives us all. When we remove the ability of our politicians to distract us with debates focused on what divides us we will find ourselves empowered to support our individual beliefs without allowing the theft of our liberty. How many times each day do you see ways to contribute to social causes without the government being involved? Whether it is clicking on yahoo, or twitter or google we are inundated with ways to support foreign countries and issues both domestic and abroad. Why do we need politicians and civil servants to do this for us? Why do we pay people to choose which cause we support? Why do we support a governmental system which picks winners and loses instead of allowing us to choose ourselves? Imagine how much money could be saved by giving directly instead of funneling donations through a system riddled with wasteful bureaucracy. Imagine the efficiency of keeping education a local issue instead of relying on unions and politicians to decide what is best for everyone. Imagine all people being treated equal instead of placing more or less value on one race, religion or creed. Some people will say that what I propose would remove the protections some people need but I believe that if we were willing to rely on enforcing existing law instead of fighting for exemptions from it we would all be better off. Every time a politician promises a gift of money or special rights they are taking your liberty. Just remember that the power you give them today could be used against you tomorrow. In fact this is already the case. Those on the left hate the causes supported by the right and vice-versa. This hatred has become the fuel for elections. If we realized that we can all keep our beliefs and support the causes we choose to, politicians would lose the ability to herd us and we might find the liberty enjoyable. We are afraid of a weak government because we have forgotten how to rely on ourselves. We are afraid of a weak government because we believe politicians when they tell us how important they are. Simply put, we are a society controlled with fear. Fear did not create this nation; the ability to rely on ourselves, the respect for our neighbors and the mutual pursuit of liberty gave us a nation of simple laws and a weak central government. It is about time we remembered the value of keeping power among the people and the States and away from political parties and politicians who only seek to divide us thereby empowering themselves.
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