For the longest time I’ve had this idea for an article and, for one reason or another, kept putting it on the back burner for later. The other day I just finished reading a book entitled From Sovereign to Serf, and in the process of reading, there it was, my idea, in bold letters right in front of my face. The fact that someone else had, not only, thought the same thing, but actually published it in a book was enough to get me off my ass and start thinking about how to say what I wanted to get across.

You all know by now that I have written extensively about the Constitution; about the various branches and powers given to our system of government.

However, I have been remiss in mentioning that there is a fourth branch of our government, whose purpose is equally as important as that of the President, the Congress, or the Court. The fourth, unmentioned branch is we the people. As residents of these nation we not only have the right of suffrage; of voting for those who will represent us in government, we also are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring they stay within the actions of these elected representatives stay within their constitutional limitations.

A reader of my columns often sends me e-mails saying it all boils down to “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” or who’s watching the watchers? I may be wrong, but I take that to mean that we are the watchers over our government, but who is watching over us to ensure that we do our job properly?

There is enough evidence to prove that our founders felt we were to play just as crucial a role in the operation of our government as any of the actual mentioned branches in the Constitution, but I will allow the following quote by Jefferson to suffice, “We, I hope, shall adhere to our republican government and keep it to its original principles by narrowly watching it.”

I’m not going to go into detail about all the infractions and violations of the governments Constitutional mandate, as I am, quite honestly, tired of repeating myself. Let be enough to say that our government no longer even faintly resembles the one envisioned by our founding fathers.

To quote from the movie, V For Vendetta, “How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.”

Our nation’s founders were, not only, educated in the various systems and forms by which government manifests itself, but they were also studiers of human nature. Our founders understood that unless a miracle occurred, the system of government they established would soon evolve into something quite different, and at the cost of the rights and liberty of the people whom it was established to protect.

In a speech before the Virginia Ratifying Convention, our future fifth president James Monroe, said the following, “How prone all human institutions have been to decay; how subject the best-formed and most wisely organized governments have been to lose their check and totally dissolve; how difficult it has been for mankind, in all ages and countries, to preserve their dearest rights and best privileges, impelled as it were by an irresistible fate of despotism.”

Thomas Jefferson once asked, “Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.” I think anyone who is honest with themselves will know the answer to that.

I am known to say that our country is going to fall, and I think that many misunderstand my words. To quote again from V For Vendetta, “Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.” You see, all through history nations, and empires have risen and fallen, all the while the people still occupy the geographic space which those nations and empires comprised. People are under the impression that when I say this nation will fall that it will simply cease to exist. That is far from what I mean, as people will still inhabit this land.

James Madison once said, “As the people of the United States enjoy the great merit of having established a system of Government on the basis of human rights, and of giving it a form without example, which, as they believe, unites the greatest national strength with the best security for public order and individual liberty, they owe to themselves, to their posterity and to the world, a preservation of the system in its purity, its symmetry, and its authenticity.” [emphasis added]

Madison also stated, “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks — no form of government can render us secure. To suppose liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.”

I think Jefferson was right, in the enjoyment of plenty we have forgotten what it means to be free. In comments left on my blog I was recently told, and I hope the person who said this does not take offense that I used their quotation without first asking, “You are a gift of memory to the remnant. A signpost to searchers. A beacon on the hill.”

Once I hit the send button on my e-mail program I know not how many people read my columns, nor what they think about them…unless of course I get some sort of feedback. Mark Twain once said, “In the beginning of change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot.”

I can only hope that my cause succeeds, that America is restored to being a land governed by a system of government which respects the unalienable rights of the people. In the meantime I do know that the path I have taken is a lonely and often frustrating one.

Journalist H. L. Mencken once said, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” I find that to be so true; most people are willing to allow their government to pass laws which infringe upon their rights because in sacrificing those rights they feel a little bit safer.

James Madison once said, “I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” It is my belief that our nation, our republic, began to be dismantled right after the end of the War of Northern Aggression, or what is commonly known as the Civil War.

In the 150 years since then we have seen the scope of power and authority of the government expand, almost exponentially with each change of the executive. Government now intrudes upon almost every aspect of our lives, and we hardly even question it any more. Those of us who do are labeled as nut cases, derided, and called unpatriotic. Yet it is we who are the true patriots; men and women who are willing to think on our own and to stand up for our unalienable rights.

Leo Tolstoy once said, “Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking.”

Those who refuse to think for themselves, who are unwilling to devote the time and energy to finding the truth are sheeple; people who obediently accept whatever lie they are told, and whatever infringements of their rights are forced upon them.

I understand why they are like this, and I understand that there is probably not much I can do to change them in their behavior…but it does not mean I have to give up. Like it or not, this is my purpose in life, to keep the flame of liberty alive for anyone who has eyes to see, and an open mind to embrace.

JAnuary 22, 2012

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com.

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