© 2016 Jim Spence - To understand why America is the last great hope for the
world, you have to understand the essential nature of people involved with government.
When the U.S. gained its independence from England, it was not long before the
flaws within the original Articles of Confederation, which was the government
format the U.S. adopted immediately after the American Revolution, became
obvious. The Articles of Confederation were America's reaction to the horrific dangers associated with yielding
too much power to an oppressive centralized government. If you can intellectually
grasp how little trust Americans placed in government in 1783, you will also understand
why the Bill of Rights was a necessary component in our Constitution, if it was
to ever get ratified and replace the Articles of Confederation. Fresh off of a
long war to gain their freedom, 18th century Americans were simply not about to create a new
“king” to answer to.
The U.S. Constitution and particularly its amendments
continue (at least in theory) to protect all of us from the tendency towards over-reach of all governments in human history. Sadly, Americans are no longer taught that we
need specific protections from the natural tendencies of all governments. As a
result, politicians have been successfully chipping away at our freedoms, as
they gather more power for themselves. We are letting them do this.
It is time for Republican voters to realize that neither
party in Washington is much interested in having less power. Accordingly,
nearly every decade since the 1790’s American citizens have seen unprincipled
politicians conduct subtle assaults on the Bill of Rights and especially on the
separation of powers. You can expect neither Mitch McConnell nor most of the
other GOP senators to do a damn thing about these assaults. In this sense, they
are indistinguishable from Democrats. How can this be?
Big government proponents have made sure that public
education no longer teaches basic principles regarding freedom. Public education has become a
political institution of the Democratic Party. American children don’t learn historical
truths at school. Instead, they are brainwashed about gender, race, and class. The
merits of free enterprise are downplayed as if prosperity comes from politicians instead of creative forces in the private sector. We never needed the term "private sector" until recently. Almost everything was private. Big government wants fundamental truths to either be ignored or twisted in both
history and civics classes. Big government is getting its way. The examples are endless. Franklin Roosevelt is
characterized like a god. Students do not learn that FDR tried to stack the
Supreme Court, not by nominating his favorite judges, but by having the gall to
try to increase the size of the court so he had a majority. Like some sort of
third world dictator, Roosevelt wanted to get his unconstitutional laws
declared constitutional by his buddies, but he did not have enough buddies on
the Supreme Court. No, FDR was not the hero he is made out to be by the Democrats who
dominate public education. FDR was just another unprincipled enemy of freedom
who decided he could simply jail all Japanese Americans without ever charging
them with crimes. Sorry folks, this is a far cry from merely stopping illegal
immigration or the flow of refugees.
FDR tried to use big government to confiscate the
entire economic system for control from Washington. Fortunately the courts enforced the Constitution and stopped him. And while Japanese Americans
stayed in “camps” under FDR for years, even Democrats united behind the
principle of keeping our separation of powers in place. Roosevelt was stopped from becoming the dictating despot he wanted to be. Sadly, 21st Century
Democrats are much more like King George’s bureaucrats than they are like the communist fighting
Democrats of Harry Truman's era.
Watching the impact of public education on the evolution of
pop culture in the U.S. has been like watching a train wreck. Being a student
of the American Revolution, studying the U.S. Constitution, and staying
well-informed has gradually become a nightmare. In part II of this column I
will review the evidence that tells us how intellectually bankrupt America has
become.
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