The nature of power...

By the Professor...

When the founding fathers of our nation designed our political system they did so only after long years of study and contemplation. There did not exist at that time the modern American need for instantaneous gratification or demagogic demands for speed in all decisions.

Instead, these wise and thoughtful gentlemen were dedicated to building a form of self-government that would survive the ages. They began by designing a new type of document, one they labeled the "Constitution of These United States". This document was created for one simple purpose...to spell out the limitations of how much power the people should grant to an administrative body...a federal government to stand over and above the separate governments of the states themselves.

Never before in history had the concept been put into practice that the people "owned" the nation and had imbued in themselves all rights due them by the simple fact that they existed. Prior to that time, government granted rights to the people...for the first time the people understood all rights came from a higher power, and were not granted to them by other human beings. The people, instead, had the right to assign certain powers and responsibilities to a government they themselves designed, created, and managed.

The founding fathers spent many years debating the content of the document that would, for all time, clearly spell out what government and those in government could not do to infringe on the natural rights of the people who owned that government. The responsibilities and duties of those employees in the government would be decided largely by future generations and were subject to change.

This dedication to the limitations of governmental powers was a result of first-hand knowledge of what an abusive government could do. These men acknowledged such a thing should never come to pass in a free society such as the one they envisioned.

Our Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the constitution, is a testament to their wisdom and their understanding of the nature of power. To more clearly comprehend what the Bill of Rights actually accomplishes we can look at the very nature of power in a society.

Firstly, the power of the individual to make life decisions, to live where they wish to live, to do what they wish to do, is mainly a function of finance. When a person chooses a means to make an income, to trade their time and labor for money, that person also creates the opportunity to make certain life choices.

Tyrants throughout history have clearly understood that one means of obtaining and maintaining power was to control the people's finances. The tighter the controls, the less life choices the people could make, and the more dependent they became on obtaining governmental permissions and on government largess. This control was usually created through taxation, regulation of prices and wages, and regulation of economic activities.

When government creates internal debt, such as our national debt, there is the opportunity for government to further erode the power of the people through increased taxation and the devaluation of the currency. When the government uses that taxation to create dependency, it clearly is usurping the individual's rights and replacing them with governmental regulation. This is a clear form of "power grabbing" whether done maliciously or with an honest intent to provide aid.

Think of it this way; there is only so much economic power available. Consider a full bucket of water. The people hold the bucket, and dole out a little water at a time to their servants...the workers in government, as everyone needs water to survive. At a certain point, there is a balance, where the functions these servants provide and the needs of the people for water are in harmony.

If the doling out continues, however, at some point the people become short of water and are forced to request it from their servants. At this point the ability of the servants to turn on their employers is obvious. This is where power begins to shift, away from the people and toward the government, and this is what our forefathers feared most of all.

Of course this is a simplistic example, but clearly illustrates the concept.

Financial freedom, the ability to create income and spend it as willed, is the first of three legs of the stool...let's call it the stool of freedom for lack of a better term. If any of the three legs are cut short, the stool will topple and our constitutional republic would fall along with it. At that point a government, normally a strong and abusive one, will step in and fill the void left by the loss of the people's freedom.

The second leg of the stool is clearly addressed in the first amendment to the Bill of Rights. We refer to the "freedom of speech" when we discuss this amendment. This amendment limits the ability of government to keep the people from freely informing one another of events. It is literally the freedom to communicate. This amendment not only protects organizations, such as media groups and associations, but protects every individual.

Financial freedom, the ability to amass funds and to build companies, created a situation where the power to communicate did become somewhat concentrated within organs of mass media. The first amendment has been greatly strengthened and power has been brought back into balance by the advent of the internet and such innovations as cable television and talk radio. Of course there are those who are not happy with this return of balance.

When tyrannical governments are studied, it is obvious that control of information, like control of cash flow, is absolutely necessary in order to allow subjugation of the populace.

The third leg of the stool consists of actual physical power; the ability to threaten, or carry out the threat of, violence. The second amendment to the constitution guarantees that the people will always have the ability, in the final extreme, to rebel against a government that is attempting to usurp the power and rights of the people through force or intimidation.

Fortunately, the ability of the people to defend themselves against government abuse, whether in the courts are in the streets, has been enough of a deterrent to keep even the most ambitious of tyrants at bay. History is replete with examples of peoples who enjoyed a certain level of freedoms maintained by being an armed populace. The ancient Greeks, the Saxons, the Israelites, and numerous other cultures required the people to maintain weapons and the ability to use them. For in the final extreme...when all else fails...the ability to force government to back down and revert to its administrative duties, versus the tendency to "rule", lies completely in the hands of an armed citizenry.

Keeping in mind the nature of power opens our eyes to an understanding of the actual motivations and personal desires of some of our elected officials. While many truly wish to serve as our representatives, and sincerely want to do what is right, the siren song of government is always calling to those whose only wish is to increase their personal power...and in doing so decrease the power and the rights that belong to the people.

The Professor