Limit Government, Not Liberty »
Posted By populist 1 year, 4 months ago in News“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
Read Full Story at tenthamendmentcenter.com »
366 Views Share Story 8 Comments Report
Submitted By:
populist
The essays we offer are unapologetically presented for you to read & analyze. Many are offered as a similar view to ours & others simply to invite ...
RSS Join the Discussion
+ Add CommentComments So Far: 14 (view all)
-
100%
rimbaud1 year, 4 months ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Constitutional Law is the study of how the federal government was granted legislative authority, by finding places to justify these powers in the constitution's specific grants of authority. The Constitution was intended to limit the powers of the government not to proscribe the activities of the governed: that's why such things as a ban on gay marriage, or a ban on desecrtaion of the flag do not belong in the Constitution.
Reply
There was some resistance to the Bill of Rights because specifically enumerating the things the federal government was NOT allowed to do might be construed as not prohibiting the government those things that were not enumerated. This was taken care of by the 10th Amendment, that re-iterated that the federal government had no powers outside of those specifically granted to it in the Constitutuion. -
100%
CHAM1 year, 4 months ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Thanks for the post.
Reply
Rimbaud you said it perfectly. The Tenth Amendment cleared it up. It and the Bill of Rights relegates to the Government what it can do. Anything else belongs to the states.
So when Bush and the boys say its just a piece of paper, they show their contempt for the one thing that is to be supreme in our land.
A leader who has contempt for our laws should be Impeached no matter how little time he has left. Bring comtempt proceedings to him on the last day in office if need be, but don't let it go by without exercising the right of the people for redress - That's in the First Amendment. -
-
-
-
50%
Natureboy1 year, 4 months ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Beware!
Reply
"Limit government" is code used by the right wing for abating governmental oversight of big business and for eliminating social programs. I don't think you are in agreement with that agenda, and don't believe you want the right wing to think you agree with that agenda.
But I agree with the true meaning of "limit government."
I would submit that the government is a powerful but very slow moving and somewhat befuddled behemoth. What we can best do in the way of resistance is use the antithetical paradigm - organize neighborhoods and communities, grassroots, so that we can simply out-maneuver and sidestep the behemoth.
Example - There was a time in the history of our country where municipalities had been suckered into selling bonds for the railroad industry that ended up, if enforced, bankrupting the towns and their inhabitants. But the bonds often could not be enforced, because some municipal governments went underground and could simply not be located - city officials met to conduct needed business at night, in barns, farmhouses etc. As described in The History of the Anti-Donation Clause,
In certain counties in Missouri and Kansas, for example, “one qualification for office ... was that the candidate be willing to go to jail rather than be party to a levy, and to keep in hiding during his term of office. Between midnight and morning seems to have been a favorite time for the transaction of county business in some localities,” and even then that business was transacted not at the courthouse, but in barns and under bridges. In many counties, there was a universal refusal, perhaps often motivated by fear, to bid on any property that had been seized to pay railroad bonds. -
100%
bigurn1 year, 4 months ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I think an informed Constitutional expert would suggest that many of the examples you've cited (social programs, gay marriage, desecration of the flag) and others like abortion are not part of the Constitution. We've allowed the Federal Government to balloon out of control.
Reply
NatureBoy, consider the question of why you find the government to be a befuddled behemoth. The Framers had no intention of it becoming a behemoth at all. Though few saw the country becoming as large as it is, none predicted the technology we see today. If it were not so large, I suspect it would be neither befuddled nor a behemoth.
I am waiting for a politician adventurous enough to test my theory.-
Neutral
populist1 year, 4 months ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
A good point, bigurn. There's a reason to limit the size and scope of government, and that's so people have options. Think of it - if Hitler had only ruled over Berlin, or Stalin only over Moscow, the world would be a different place today.
Reply
The most important issues, social programs, abortion, and the like - are best handled close to home by people in their own communities or states.
Now, this country has a one-size-fits-all solution to almost everything, and when politicians make bad choices (which they usually do), everyone gets hurt.
Limiting government, and restablishing state sovereignty diminishes the effects of bad federal policies, and keeps them limited to smaller areas.
-
-
Neutral
ecotourusa1 year, 4 months ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I'm in fear of this government. I am certain they will create an internet 9-11 just like the original. After 9-11, the Patriot Act was passed, then there was FISA, next will be the REAL ID.
Reply
soon our internet will be controlled just like China.
Thanks to Obama and McCain: our country will continue on this dire path. Both of these candidates are wrapped in special interests.
Ron Paul is the only man out there fighting for our personal liberty. He is still in the Race!
www.CampaignForLiberty.com
here is a good updated site to get real news:
www.dailypaul.com
thanks populist -- very important subject -
Add a Comment
Sign In With Your Propeller Account
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.