Heading to America’s 250th
The July Fourth celebration this year, begins a march toward the next milestone in the country’s history, the 250th anniversary of the ratification and publishing of the Declaration of Independence. Those old enough to remember the 200th celebration in 1976 can attest it was a time of renewed pride and commitment to the “American Experiment.”
Let us be clear about what that experiment entailed with all its warts. It was a representative republic, not a democracy as set up by the Constitution. The founders were fearful of the rule of the majority, and sought ways to protect minority opinions and issues.
As originally designed, the House of Representatives was elected directly by the people. The Senate was selected by the individual states and represented their interests, and allowed for two from each state to check the power of the big states. The Electoral College was designed to have states represented by the number of congressional districts and the two senators, coming up with a total of electoral votes.
This system of checks and balances served as a means to balance the distribution of power between the first two branches of government. The third branch, the judiciary, was a bit less determined. It was only later the courts began to parse whether an enactment of Congress was constitutional, and even then there were those who were fearful of a tyrannical judiciary.
As the country evolved, amendments to the Constitution touched on subjects that became issues that only the federal system to could address for the nation: slavery and its aftermath; the establishment of open election for the Senate, the Federal Reserve and Income Tax, and women suffrage.
Some have dismissed this system and the nation as illegitimate, one based on the original sin of slavery, and the annexation of land from native tribes. Such dismissals are myopic at best, and a-historic at worst. Slavery was – and still is – an institution that exists in the world, and was no better or worse here. Europeans were not the only ones involved in the slave trade. So were African tribes, Islamic warlords, and nomads. This is not to excuse the institution here, but to understand its context.
Expansions of nations, meanwhile, were and are the cause of strife all over the world, and were so here. The United States did not invent annexation of tribal lands. And we should acknowledge our treatment of native tribes was a blot on our history.
That said, no other system than the one established by the Founders protects individual rights better. One need only look at our cousins in the United Kingdom, systematically censoring speech which the government defines as hateful.
The recent incursion of millions of illegal aliens only proves the point that people are anxious to come here, not leave. Only jaded people with elite attitudes and living in gated communities seem to be eyeing the exits – and only when things do not go their way. Meanwhile, navel gazing academics churn out pseudo history and class struggle, much like their socialist and communist fellow travelers do in other countries.
America is a nation that basis itself on the rights of the individual over the desires of the those in government, who always seek more power. The founders knew the headiness of power and sought to curb it.
For all its faults, the United States is heading into its 250th year still the place the world’s people want to be. The equality of opportunity is there. The outcome is up to the individual.
WMVRJR
From:wmvrjr@yahoo.com
To:Wm R
Mon, Jun 30 at 2:19 PM
The July Fourth celebration this year, begins a march toward the next milestone in the country’s history, the 250th anniversary of the ratification and publishing of the Declaration of Independence. Those old enough to remember the 200th celebration in 1976 can attest it was a time of renewed pride and commitment to the “American Experiment.”
Let us be clear about what that experiment entailed with all its warts. It was a representative republic, not a democracy as set up by the Constitution. The founders were fearful of the rule of the majority, and sought ways to protect minority opinions and issues.
As originally designed, the House of Representatives was elected directly by the people. The Senate was selected by the individual states and represented their interests, and allowed for two from each state to check the power of the big states. The Electoral College was designed to have states represented by the number of congressional districts and the two senators, coming up with a total of electoral votes.
This system of checks and balances served as a means to balance the distribution of power between the first two branches of government. The third branch, the judiciary, was a bit less determined. It was only later the courts began to parse whether an enactment of Congress was constitutional, and even then there were those who were fearful of a tyrannical judiciary.
As the country evolved, amendments to the Constitution touched on subjects that became issues that only the federal system to could address for the nation: slavery and its aftermath; the establishment of open election for the Senate, the Federal Reserve and Income Tax, and women suffrage.
Some have dismissed this system and the nation as illegitimate, one based on the original sin of slavery, and the annexation of land from native tribes. Such dismissals are myopic at best, and a-historic at worst. Slavery was – and still is – an institution that exists in the world, and was no better or worse here. Europeans were not the only ones involved in the slave trade. So were African tribes, Islamic warlords, and nomads. This is not to excuse the institution here, but to understand its context.
Expansions of nations, meanwhile, were and are the cause of strife all over the world, and were so here. The United States did not invent annexation of tribal lands. And we should acknowledge our treatment of native tribes was a blot on our history.
That said, no other system than the one established by the Founders protects individual rights better. One need only look at our cousins in the United Kingdom, systematically censoring speech which the government defines as hateful.
The recent incursion of millions of illegal aliens only proves the point that people are anxious to come here, not leave. Only jaded people with elite attitudes and living in gated communities seem to be eyeing the exits – and only when things do not go their way. Meanwhile, navel gazing academics churn out pseudo history and class struggle, much like their socialist and communist fellow travelers do in other countries.
America is a nation that basis itself on the rights of the individual over the desires of the those in government, who always seek more power. The founders knew the headiness of power and sought to curb it.
For all its faults, the United States is heading into its 250th year still the place the world’s people want to be. The equality of opportunity is there. The outcome is up to the individual.