Control. A simple word with many complex interpretations and means to which it is achieved. I seek to explore why so many are willing to give up their individuality in order to achieve some sort of mindless assurance that they won't fall on perceived hard times. Many people think that the goal of leftist social policy is to enable anyone to do anything with little or even no consequence. That is actually the furthest thing from the truth. The left in this country sings the praises of being tolerant of any lifestyle but once one digs deeper, they are only tolerant of lifestyles that are destructive to the social and moral construct of an honorable and just society. Our Constitution was written to give the power to the people so that they would never have to deal with an overarching authority running their lives. This just won't stand with those that seek to control us. We are stupid in their view. We can't be trusted. We might fail. Honor and true justice no longer matter because that would mean that we would be beholden to ourselves and even a higher power that knows no governmental bounds and that is dangerous to central power. We must be beholden to that central power for that central power to remain relevant. Control comes in many forms.
First, control comes in the form of regulations on business and private property. The central powers that be have figured out that they can limit the right of individuals to self determine their lives by telling them what they can and can't do, many times resorting to draconian measures to do so. You can't plant that in this place. You can't paint your house a certain color. You can't just do nothing with that property. You can't buy this property because the government bought it and will tell you what you can and can't do there. You can't carry weapon. You can't travel freely. You can't enter into a contract with just anyone. You can't speak up about government imposed rules. I could go on and on. The real reason behind these rules is to shape and mold the society into a malleable mass that can be shaped to the ideas that government sees fit. We must not be allowed to be our own people. The most ironic part is the people that profess to be the nonconformists in society happen to be the most conformist of us all. They rail against those that just want to be left alone and go about their lives. They think that everyone that doesn't share their opinions is a bigot or is somehow stupid or unkind. Regulation is used to enforce many of these viewpoints now.
Second, control comes in the form of moral relativism. When an individual loses moral clarity, the government can then control them. There is no higher power the state. An example can be seen in the Presbyterian Church(USA). They have abandoned moral and upright Biblical teaching in favor of being politically correct. They will marginalize themselves in order to be seen as non-offensive to a small group of people and anyone that doesn't hold that warped view will be singled out and shunned for being old-fashioned or stiff. Leftist statists will stop at nothing to make sure they are seen as the source of all that is good. Nothing else can be above them. If something else is seen as being superior to their own wishes, they would then be marginalized and that can not be allowed. If the world made to seem like a mass of many shades of gray, government can step in to be perceived as offering clarity.
Third, control comes from centralized power and layers and layers of bureaucracy to support that central power. Once these layers are set up, it becomes nearly impossible to peal them away. It is seen in the many duplicate agencies in the federal government that are also overlapped by state and local agencies that do almost the same or in many cases, the exact same duties and tasks. Why do we have the FBI, DEA, ATF, state, county and local police organizations overlapping each other. The same goes for federal, state and local education agencies. All these do is serve to make citizen control of our governance all that more difficult. The other concerning thing about the bureaucracy is it is unelected and almost impossible to get rid of. There is no system of checks and balances limiting the size of this leviathan. After all, there is nothing more permanent that a temporary government program.
Fourth, control comes from politicians more concerned about staying in power than doing the people's business. Promises in elections are like a certain part of the lower body. Everyone has one and they all stink. Many political types talk a good game to get elected and then fall into the trappings of power and unearned wealth. This country has people in the federal legislature that have been there for over thirty years. To a person, every one of these people no longer represents anyone but themselves and to a lesser extent, the government that has made them wealthy. The saddest part is people continue to vote for them if they are seen as "bringing home the bacon".
After many years of looking at this like someone that is being governed, recently I decided to step back and look at these problems from the perspective of someone that lived in this land 245 years ago. Why did the colonists rebel against the King of England? The answer, quite simply, is they wanted to be able to think and do for themselves in a manner that met their own moral and civil ideas. The King was removed from these ideas because he was only accountable to himself, as supreme leader and head of church and state. There were no consequences for him, short of natural death. He had no reason to care about the colonists. Doesn't that sound rather similar to our plight now? Yes, our representatives are elected, but they are only concerned with staying elected and that is the root of the need to control the individual and put them into groups and are unable to think and do for themselves. If the individual can do for himself, there is little need for government. Our founding documents are written with this individualism in mind. The only minority that should matter is the individual. No group of people is as important is the individual.
Liberty needs to be our clarion call. Out of this, we should endeavor to strike at the heart of the centralized power that controls most aspects of our lives. While certain politicians have shown honor and courage, most don't and can't be trusted. Public mandates to reign in government mean little when the people mandated with the task fail to be courageous once elected.
I have come to the conclusion that an Article V Convention of States is needed in order to amend the Constitution in order to save the Republic. The most important amendment that would impact our quest for liberty is reform of Congress. First, the 17th Amendment must be repealed. The Senate was intended to represent individual state's interests. It was not intended to be a statewide popularity contest. Second, there must be a term limits amendment passed. Along with that, legislators must not be eligible for any healthcare, pension or retirement benefit that is not available to the general public. Congress was not intended to be a means to wealth. It was intended to be a position of service to people that have duly elected them. Third, the 16th Amendment should be repealed. There should be no mechanism to tax income. A tax on voluntary commerce would be legal and just and would absolve no one of paying taxes. The progressive income tax has been one of the greatest scams ever foisted upon the American people. It dissuades growth and hard work. Fourth, a balanced budget amendment should be passed in order to limit government spending and overreach. Our current debt is out of control and there is no hope with spending at current levels, to every paying it down. This balanced budget amendment should also outlaw the practice of baseline budgeting. There should be no automatic spending increase for any federal department. There should be no more language to the effect of a decrease in the rate of increase is seen as a spending cut. I also believe there should be an amendment to cut most presidential domestic cabinet level positions. The president should be less concerned with domestic policy than that of protecting American interests around the world. There should be no Secretaries of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation or Homeland Security. State and local governments would be much more efficient in administering these areas.
Some will mark me as unkind or intolerant for advocating for these changes. I don't care. These reforms are needed in order reign in the federal government and the result of reigning in the government will be more individual liberty. Without this, we will lose the Republic and along with that the last, best hope for mankind.
I will fight to make sure that does not happen. Who will join me?
You can find me on Twitter: twitter.com/@bigredmatt1011
