Tuesday 24 February 2015

By Earlene McGee


Since its founding, The United States has relied on the Constitution to safeguard expansive liberties for the citizens of the nation. The Founders who produced that governing document had many different views on life, but they all shared a common belief in individual sovereignty that guided them to create a charter that placed strict checks on the power of government. In modern times, a movement toward anti constitutionalism now poses a serious threat to that established order.

These opponents of constitutional governance have gained power and influence in the media and academia, and thus have access to many of the most effective means available for spreading their worldview. That, more than anything else, has enabled them to garner increasing support over the last few generations. Today, it is difficult to find a college campus or major media outlet that does not offer some level of support to this philosophy.

The sad fact is that this ideology is one that predates revolutionary times. In fact, the history of mankind is a history of man's rights being defined by the authoritarians who ruled over him at any given time. While those people of the past were told that their rights were gifts from government, our Founders adopted the much different concepts promoted by numerous freedom-loving philosophers of that era.

This new philosophy held that man's rights came not from government, but were gifts from his Creator. They were inherent rights held by every human being alive. As such, their enjoyment did not depend upon any ruler's arbitrary decrees, and could not be legislated out of existence to satisfy government's desire for control.

The entirety of the Constitution relies upon that new ideology. It sets out in careful detail the various branches of government, while providing limits on their respective areas of authority. To further strengthen the rights of the individual and States, the Founders also passed ten highly restrictive Amendments that elaborated on those liberties.

Modern opponents of those restrictions on governmental authority, like the Progressives and various socialist groups, have a very different view of human liberty. This view is presented as a new concept, but is actually as old as humanity itself. From Babylon and The Roman Empire to modern tyrannies such as North Korea and the Soviet Union, there have always been authoritarians telling us that the collective interest trumps individual sovereignty.

For these opponents of constitutionalism, limited government as defined under the Constitution is the ultimate enemy that must be destroyed. They cannot control the country while that document endures, so they have worked steadily to undermine individual freedom as they expanded government control. Many of them now believe that their ultimate objective is within reach.

As the American people are driven ever further from their constitutional roots, individual sovereignty is being replaced by arbitrary rule from a centralized government. If those who oppose the limits of this nation's Constitution are allowed to succeed, future generations may curse this one for allowing the greatest system of government ever devised by man to slip through its fingers.




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