To
public figures (such as Bachmann,
Perry, Paul) demanding reductions in the scope of
government (without considering the Constitutional parameters), the
following services are essential to the realization of the parameters
of our Constitution, and, as such, are secure in their continuing
existence (until feasible replacements are developed):
Social
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid promote the general Welfare;
The
state and federal judicial networks help to establish Justice;
The
state and federal police forces help to insure domestic Tranquility;
The
Constitution, as the common document that shapes the life of every
inhabitant in this nation, helps to create a more perfect Union;
The
armed forces provide for the common defence.
Excluded
from this list, however, are the elusive and hard-to-quantify
Blessings of Liberty. From liberty, the citizen crafts Happiness,
serenity, and peace. Absent liberty, the citizen is reduced to the
level of a dumb beast – she becomes a slave incapable of rational
action or independent thought. She is restricted in her liberty when
denied the right to abort an unwanted fetus. His liberty is destroyed
when he is denied his inalienable right to his body, and to consume
drugs of his choosing. She is restricted in her liberty when she is
forced to abide by the tenets of a religion not of her choosing. His
liberty is under siege when he is discriminated against because of
the color of his skin, his religious practices, or because of the
type of head-covering he wears.
The
freedom-loving inhabitants of this nation are forced to resort to the
black market to obtain the substances they desire (such as cocaine,
marijuana, and heroin), substances the American citizen has every
right to consume (as drug-use affects his body, which is his property
to dispose of as he sees fit). The good people of this land must
consort regularly with shady and dangerous people who possess of
quantities of drugs unobtainable in the legitimate markets. The
upstanding citizens of these shores, they who would gladly buy their
marijuana (and pay taxes on it) at their local drug store, must fear
for their very Freedom every time they wish to pursue their Happiness
by lighting up a joint.
The
individual American has, over the course of his life, proven willing
and able to fulfill the parameters of the United States Constitution,
regardless of the hurdles that government puts in his way. The
American citizen is already living a life of liberty (by doing that
which he pleases while not infringing upon the life, liberty, or
property of anyone else, which is known as “minding his own
business”), although he very often has to break existing laws to do
so. Domestic terrorist plots foiled in their execution since
September 11, 2001 were uncovered for the most part by average
citizens who took upon themselves the responsibility of providing for
the common defence. (Love and respect to our brave, heroic soldiers
who sacrifice regularly, for the common defence, of their time and
lives.) The peaceful people of this nation insure domestic
Tranquility and establish Justice by going about their daily business
with serene and glowing hearts, righting any wrongs they feel are
theirs to right while ignoring other wrongs chronically, wrongs such
as poverty and homelessness, wrongs that in their continued existence
violate the right of each and every American person to be Safe and Happy.
At
its core, my argument is that every act by any type of government in
America must fulfill, in some significant way, the parameters of the
Constitution. Any legislation that directly violates these
parameters, such as the Patriot Act, or the Controlled Substances Act, is unconstitutional. Once legislation is designed
according to these parameters, and once all government action is
balanced against this short list, our country will surely revert to
the horrible messiness of pure and honest liberty.
場黑麥
John
Paul Roggenkamp
