Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it.
Ronald Reagan
So where are we as the consequences of the conversion of the United States to Socialism are now clearly evident? The people who understood the peril of our financial crisis put pressure on Congress to cut spending prior to the debt ceiling resolution. Congress ignored the will of the people and the July 15th warning from Standard & Poor’s concerning a credit rating downgrade. Now that the consequences of their arrogance have caused a stock market collapse and the promised credit rating downgrade, the Tea Party is blamed and no solutions are presented by our “leaders”.
But this is old news and not totally unexpected. The people who sound the alarm are always blamed by the people who cause the crisis. Mark Twain gave an excellent definition of a true patriot:
In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.
The following information from Rasmussen and Pat Caddell classifies Americans as Pre-Revolutionary:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 17% of Likely U.S. Voters think the federal government today has the consent of the governed. Sixty-nine percent (69%) believe the government does not have that consent. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided.
The number of voters who feel the government has the consent of the governed – a foundational principle, contained in the Declaration of Independence – is down from 23% in early May and has fallen to its lowest level measured yet.
Perhaps it’s no surprise voters feel this way since only eight percent (8%) believe the average member of Congress listens to his or her constituents more than to their party leaders. That, too, is the lowest level measured to date. Eighty-four percent (84%) think the average congressman listens to party leaders more than the voters they represent.
Voter approval of the job Congress is doing has fallen to a new low – for the second month in a row. Only six percent (6%) now rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent.
The difference between a pre-revolutionary American and a patriot is simple: a patriot understands that the Ds and the Rs are the problem, not the solution. Taking over the Republican Party to take back our country is a flawed strategy. Look at the debt ceiling vote where the GOP leadership blamed the Tea Party for their failures.
I would accept the label pre-revolutionary but I prefer “patriot”. The patriot is fighting to restore the Constitution and founding principles (including morality), not political parties. For anyone who does not share this analysis, please refer back to the above quote from Mark Twain.
David DeGerolamo
A contemporary of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) passed an interesting judgement on the growth of the US general government and its craving for wealth and power:
“But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain -- that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.” -- Lysander Spooner
At this point in time we are forced to reflect on the choices presented by Lincoln in his First Innaugural Address (yes, I still despise Lincoln):
” This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.
Progressives are not satisfied with the founding institutions of this country and are engaged in a final struggle to destroy the original structure of our government.
Conservatives are not accepting the modern institutions of this country and are engaged in a “posthumus” attempt to reverse 100 years of progressive expansion.
So the label pre-revolutionary sounds good to me.
I think it is time we reflect on the message of Lysander Spooner, and debate this opportunity to follow the advice of Lincoln and exercise our “revolutionary right” to dismember the general government.
The wisdom embodied in the Articles of Confederation, as adopted by the original 13 sovereign States, is a good starting point for the re-founding of our Union.
No general government with powers to reach into the States and act upon individuals. No general government with powers to redistribute wealth of individuals.
Those who are inclined to live as collectivists will be free to settle in States that support legalized theft and redistribution.
Those who are inclined to live as individualists will be free to settle in States that protect private property from confiscation by others.
Compromise between ideologies is no longer a viable option; the Looters want too much blood and treasure from the Producers.
There is no other solution short of physical war.