Broken Government, Part 2

Now, where was I? Oh, yes...

Some other books that I'm currently reading about our Government, that might interest you, are The Federalist Papers, The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates of 1787.

The Federalist Papers are a series of essays that were originally published anonymously in New York newspapers to try and convince the people that this new Democratic form of Government was the next best thing and to vote FOR it. We have since learned that the authors of these essays were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, important historical figures and die-hard Federalists.

The Anti-Federalist Papers were dissenting opinions about possible dangers to true freedom this new Constitution posed. These were the views of such people as Patrick Henry and "John DeWitt." You have to remember that, at that time, each state was basically its own country. That was why Britain figured the Revolutionary War would be a cakewalk. There wasn't one large U.S. Army to oppose the mighty Brits. There were just a bunch of State Militias, that were more policemen then Army. Because each state was its own country, each state had its own set of laws and, for the most part, operated independantly of each other. But I'm digressing...

The Constitutional Convention Debates are especially interesting for several reasons; you get a good idea of just how difficult it was for these men to come up with and agree on a truly new system of Government that was "OF the people and FOR the people." It is also interesting to note that they used Britain's Government as a base and then came up with checks that would prevent this Government from becoming a Monarchy or Dictatorship. What is especially chilling are the words of 81 year-old Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who was prescient enough to see what was coming. Truly, a man so far ahead of his time that his words actually did send chills up my spine. Brrr.

You see, the Federal Government began as a support system for the United States, with the States themselves still holding on to their power. Slowly, over time, something changed. It was probably all due to the fact that, well, we grew as a country. We became this huge monstrosity that, without the Federal Government taking a more active role, would just collapse under the weight of itself. Although we seemed to be heading in that direction anyway.

You could probably point to the 16th Amendment as the beginning of the end. Without getting into the boring details, the 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, basically opened the door for a Federal Income Tax that did not have to be apportioned by census.

FDR's "New Deal" can also be seen as a radical step that took the Federal Government one step closer to becoming something other than what the original Founders of the Constitution meant it to be.

So, the U.S. Government is broken. Can it be fixed? It can but it won't be until things get so bad that the people are on the road to rebellion because that's what history teaches us. I'll end with some words of wisdom from Dr. Benjamin Franklin, "The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes; the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partizans and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure. There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh, get first all the peoples money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants for ever."