"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
--Declaration of Independence, 1776

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
--George Washington

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”
--Thomas Jefferson

In our Declaration of Independence, there is for the first time in history in a founding document, the philosophy that man’s rights and freedoms are derived from God---not from Buddha, not from Allah, not from Mohammed, but from GOD.

For the first time, it is stated that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed! Wow! That means you and I and our fellow Americans are THE bosses, not the President, not the Congress and not the Supreme Court. What an absolutely revolutionary concept, that!

This philosophy was carried by the framers of the U.S. Constitution into the structure of our government. They gave a precise allocation of authority to each branch of government by stating, unequivocally, the duties and powers of each.

The U.S. Constitution is a covenant between the people of each state and those of other states. Its terms are singularly clear, written so pioneer readers could fully comprehend them. It is only when modern men twist the Constitution, that it becomes confusing.

What an amazing heritage the authors of the Constitution gave us. At last the nations of the world saw a new government created by the people themselves, containing the best safeguards ever installed against the greatest evil threatening liberty----government and human nature.

Here, at long last, was what philosophers (Plato, Locke, Hobbes, et al) down through the centuries, had spoken of as ideal government.

There existed only one flaw in this wondrous Constitutional system. Alexis de Tocqueville, over a century ago, observed that people with our form of government must have an understanding of and appreciation for the system or it would, inevitably, degenerate into a totalitarian state with a reversal of the position of man and government—that government would become supreme, seizing all power and granting to man the few rights he would have.

Several of the Founders expressly warned that our form of government requires an upright and moral people and that all would be lost if the people used the government as a means to take money from others in the form of taxes. Perhaps the concept was best expressed in the words attributed to Barry Goldwater, "A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away."

Our forefathers gave us a government with LIMITED powers. The individual was free to risk, to dare, to select what he would and would not do and free to become whatever he was capable of becoming.

Economic freedom was guaranteed because all powers not expressly assigned to the central government by the Constitution were kept by the people, themselves. Only 39 powers were given to the government. The powers and duties delegated to the President were, purposefully and carefully, limited and clearly stated. Those given the judiciary allowed them to do certain things only, and making law was not one of them.

No person, agency or department in the general government is authorized by the Constitution to have any power or authority not specifically delegated in the Constitution.

Now enemies of our Constitution are prattling that because times have changed, that man’s relationship to government must change—--that the new challenges of today demand such change.

Despite the current babble, nothing has changed, however, affecting man’s relationship to government. Man’s relationship to government is absolute, as absolute as his relationship to God—--not dependent on time or numbers. Those enemies of the Constitution and, thus, of us, contend that although the rights and freedoms come from God, they no longer do so when there are x numbers of people in the U.S. or when the gross national product and global economy reaches x billion of dollars or when the United nations and its concept of No Borders- One World Order controls the world’s population.

How fantastic! For mankind the basic problem is now and ever will be individual freedom—freedom from tyranny. The fight against tyrants is older than civilization itself. Man can progress only in freedom. Since the dawn of time, tyrants have tried to enslave others. Tyrants can be and have been vanquished only by free men, not by state-controlled robots.

Just as Alex de Tocqueville once predicted, our nation has become a Welfare State with our government assuming the national and international roles of Nanny and Policeman. Such action is not only unconstitutional; it compresses, enervates, extinguishes and stupefies us.

By its actions, our central government has reduced we, the people, to a flock of timid and industrious animals under the total control of a government that we have been taught to identify as the blessed shepherd.

“The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.” ---Ayn Rand