“Imagine a world where the fundamental rights and principles enshrined in the Constitution have been so manipulated and perverted over the past two centuries that the Founding Fathers would struggle to recognize them. Consider the possibility that the very institution tasked with upholding these ideals has actually contributed to their erosion. picture a society where the peak of freedom’s peril is not in the distant past, but rather in the here and now.”
We are approaching critical mass, the point at which all hell breaks loose.
The authorities are steering the nation towards a potentially calamitous conflict with the constitution.
The grim outlook is further exacerbated by the widespread lack of knowledge among the American public and their elected representatives regarding the fundamental principles of governance, their constitutional rights, and the nation’s rich history.
As Morris Berman points out in his book Dark Ages America, “70 percent of American adults can not name their senators or congressmen; more than half don’t know the actual number of senators, and nearly a quarter can not name a single right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Sixty-three percent can not name the three branches of government. Other studies reveal that uninformed or undecided voters often vote for the candidate whose name and packaging (e.g., logo) are the most powerful; color is apparently a major factor in their decision.”
More than government corruption and ineptitude, police brutality, terrorism, gun violence, drugs, illegal immigration or any other so-called “danger” that threatens our nation, civic illiteracy may be what finally pushes us over the edge.
According to the caution of Thomas Jefferson, a nation can not simultaneously be ignorant and enjoy freedom.
Unfortunately, the American people have existed in a technology-laden, entertainment-fueled, perpetual state of cluelessness for so long that civic illiteracy has become the new normal for the citizenry.
It’s telling that Americans were more able to identify Michael Jackson as the composer of a number of songs than to know that the Bill of Rights was the first 10 amendments to the U.S. COnstitution.
In fact, most immigrants who aspire to become citizens know more about national civics than native-born Americans. Surveys indicate that a majority in every state but Vermont would fail a test of U.S. citizenship questions.
The very indviduals in the government who are supposed to act on our behalf have limited knowledge when it comes to civics, American history and geography, or the Constitution. Despite taking an oath to protect, endorse, and safeguard the Constitution from both foreign and domestic threats, they lack a substantial understanding of these subjects.
For instance, a few year ago, a couple attempting to get a marriage license was forced to prove to a government official that New Mexico is, in fact, one of the 50 states and not a foreign country.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Here’s a classic example of how surreal the landscape has become.
Every year, the White House issues a proclamation affirming the importance of the Bill of Rights.
These proclamations pay lip service to the government’s commitment to upholding the Constitution and guarding against government abuses of power.
Never accept it at face value.
The government desires to evade scrutiny for its abuses and limit its powers.
For that matter, this is not a government that holds the Constitution in high esteem.
The current state of affairs is certainly disconcerting, and it’s hard to ignore the role that the erosion of Bill of Rights freedoms has played in bringing us to this point. For centuries, these protections have served as a safeguard agianst government overreach, but recent events have undermined their effectiveness.
In the so-called named of national security, the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded to such an extent that what we are left with is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago.
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights, a document comprising 462 words that enshrine the most comprehensive and influential set of rights ever granted to a population, was incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. This milestone was achieved due to the foresight and advocacy of visionary leaders such as James Madison and THomas Jefferson, who recognized the imperative to safeguard against the potential for government overreach and abuse of authority.
The truth we must confront is that, in the contemporary United States, the government enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy and discretion in its decision-making processes, often resulting in actions that are not always aligned with the will of the people or the principles of democracy.
Make no mistake: if our individual freedoms have been restricted, it is only so that the government’s powers could be expanded at our expense.
The USA Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, drove a stake through the heart of the Bill of Rights, violating at least six of the ten original amendments– the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Amendments– and possibly the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well. The Patriot Act also redefined terrorism so broadly that many non-terrorist political activities such as protest marches, demonstrations and civil disobedience were considered potential terrorist acts, thereby rendering anyone desiring to engage in protected First Amendment expressive activities as suspects of the surveillance state.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, there has been an increase in surveillance and monitoring efforts by government agencies, including the use of cameras, audio interception, search and seizure of personal belongings, and monitoring of electronic communications such as email and phone calls. Additionally, financial transactions have been subject to scrutiny under the USA Patriot Act, and activities and associations have been closely watched, all in the name of national security.
We’ve also been subjected to invasive patdowns and whole-body scans of our persons and seizures of our electronic devices in the nation’s airports and at border crossings.
We can’t even purchase certain cold medicine at the pharmacy anymore without it being reported to the government and our names being placed on a watch list.
Government surveillance, militarized police, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, eminent domain, overcriminalization, armed surveillance drones, whole body scanners, stop and frisk searches (all sanctioned by Congress, the White House, the courts and the like), etc: these are merely the weapons of the police state.
The power of the police state is dependent on a populace that meekly obeys without question.
Remember: when it comes to the staggering loss of civil liberties, the Constitution hasn’t changed. Rather, it is the American people who have changed.
The individuals who provided us with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights held the belief that the government is established by the consent of its people. The primary aim of the government is to safeguard, uphold, and potentially improve our liberties, rather than infringing upon them.
The framers of the Constitution deliberately chose to begin the document with the phrase “We the people,” emphasizing the crucial role that citizens play in preserving freedom and democracy. They recognized that the power to maintain liberty lies not with the government, but with the people themselves. As Thomas Paine noted, it is the duty of patriots to hold their government accountable and ensure that it does not overstep its bounds.
Your rights remain dormant until you take action to assert them.
However, without knowing the rights, it is not possible to excercise them.
“If Americans do not understand the Constitution and the institutions and processes through which we are governed, we can not rationally evaluate important legislation and the efforts of our elected officials, nor can we preserve the national unity necessary to meaningfully confront the multiple problems we face today,” warns the Brennan Center in its Civic Literacy Report Card. “Rather, every act of government will be measured only by its individual value or cost, without concern for its larger impact. More and more we will ‘want what we want, and [will be] convinced that the system that is stopping us is wrong, flawed, broken or outmoded.'”
Education precedes action.
According to the Brennan Center’s analysis, America is not like other countries that are defined by ancestry or ideology. Instead, America is a concept or a collection of concepts centered around freedom and opportunities. It is these concepts that unite us as Americans and have enabled us to maintain our freedom, strength, and prosperity. However, it is important to note that these concepts can not sustain themselves. They need to be activly taught and learned by each new generation.
If there is to be any hope for restoring our freedoms and reclaiming our runaway government, we will have to start by breathing life into those three powerful words that set the tone for everything that follows in the Constitution: “we the people.”
Citizens receive the leadership they earn.
It’s up to us.
We have the power to make and break the government.
As the American population, it is our responsibility to make decisions and protect the well-being, security, freedom, regulations, and success of our nation.
It’s time to stop waiting patiently for change to happen.
We must act– and act responsibly.
Get outraged, get off your duff and get out of your house, get in the streets, get in people’s faces, get down to your local city council, get over to your local school board, get your thoughts down on paper, get your objections plastered on protest signs, get your neighbors, friends and family to join their voices to yours, get your representatives to pay attention to your grievances, get your kids to know their rights, get your local police to march in lockstep with the Constitution, get your media to act as watchdogs for the people and not lapdogs for the corporate state, get your act together, and get your house in order.
Start moving immediately.
A healthy, representative government is hard work. It takes a citizenry that is informed abbout the issues, educated about how the government operates, and willing to make the sacrifices necessary to stay involved, whether that means forgoing Monday night football in order to attend a city council meeting or risking arrest by picketing in front of a politician’s office.
Whatever you do, please don’t hinge your freedoms on politics.
The Constitution is neutral when it comes to politics. What the Constitution is not neutral about, however, is the government’s duty to safeguard the rights of the citizenry.
As expressed in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and its fictional companion The Erik Blair Diaries, it is the responsibility of us citizens to preserve freedom through all peaceful methods at our disposal, extending beyond the mere act of casting our votes.
Be aware of your entitlements. Utilize your entitlements. Protect your entitlements. Otherwise, they will be forfeited.
Freedom’s greatest hour of danger is now.
Free Speech and Alternative Media are under attack by the Deep State. Chris Wick News needs reader support to survive and thrive.
We are a privately owned website funded solely by donations from our readers, Every dollar helps. Contributions help keep the site active and help support the author (and his medical bills)
