Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen
One of the major differences between a republic and an authoritarian dictatorship is the glue that holds it together. In a dictatorship order is established through fear. In a republic, the social order is held together by a common respect for the law and a mutual appreciation for the system. “Law and Order” has been ingrained in the American psyche since the beginning, and rightly so. Anarchy is the antithesis of the American experience. It is the moral character of the individual citizen and a respect for the law that allows our society to function smoothly without an overwhelming police presence. The reason our system works is because the vast majority of the people are inclined to obey the law, even if they don’t always agree with it.
The major reason for this is because we believe we live in a representative republic. We vote for people who make the laws with our best interests in mind. These leaders are supposed to respect our God given rights and create laws that solve any problems that crop up. Our system was designed to move slowly and deliberately so every law was carefully considered and the likelihood of a bad law being pushed through by a bad legislator or two was minimal. That was the idea. However, our republic now exists in form only and the system works very differently today.
The electoral system is designed to maintain party leadership through gerrymandered districts and the creation of law has been outsourced to lobbyists and special interests. Our legislators, by their own admission, don’t understand or even read the legislation they pass. Most power has passed to the executive branch which interprets and implements the arcane legalese of current legislation. The average citizen is, for all intents and purposes, locked out of this process. Laws come down from on high that, at best, may not have our best interests at heart, and at worst, may be detrimental to our liberty and the health of the country as a whole; but are very good for expanding the power of those in charge.
Consider where we are today. New laws, the rules of the game we are all supposed to respect and abide by, are being pushed by radical communists like Nancy Pelosi and voted on by congressmen who think islands tip over if too many people are put on them. They are written by radical policy groups, interpreted by executive branch bureaucrats and implemented by federal union workers. Does anyone think this is a system that works for us? The original cry of the rebellion was “No Taxation without Representation”. Our government has gone far beyond that. They create programs that create more problems and tear apart the very fabric of our society, rewarding immorality and corruption and punishing the “law abiding citizen”. They spend, borrow and print money in ways that will eventually destroy the economy. They confiscate the wealth of one citizen to give it to another and often that other isn’t even a citizen but a criminal alien. They give rights to terrorists and take them from us. The list could go on.
The question then becomes, are we obligated to dig our own grave? At what point does the system and the laws it produces become so immoral that it is moral to become criminal? Consider the civil rights movement of the sixties. The law says “sit in the back of the bus; drink from this water fountain; go to this diner.” They were all legitimate laws passed by democratically elected representatives. Perhaps the blacks had little or no say but do we really have any more? If we are told to sit in the back of the bus but can see that the bus is heading for a cliff, do we not have the moral duty to disobey the law in order to do the right thing and try to save the bus and everyone on it? At what point does an immoral law, a law that directly attacks our God-given rights and the guarantees to be secure in our person and property under our contract, motivate us to act morally? At what point does the confiscation of our property, the attempts to silence our speech, the removal of our rights to self protection and self determination become too much? How much must they take before we realize we have been raped and beaten and if we do nothing, the death blow will quickly follow?
The only obligation we have to follow the dictates and proclamations of the “gods” on Mt. Washington is the obligation we create in our own minds. We the people as part of the various states entered into a contract with the “national” government and that contract is called the Constitution. It defines the duties and responsibilities of both parties. The federal government has its areas of responsibility and the people and the states has theirs. There has been an egregious breach of that contract by the federal government. Look at it this way. If you and I enter into a business contract in which I promise to deliver some item and you promise to pay a certain price for it and I don’t deliver that item, are you morally or legally obligated to pay for it? Of course not. Yet our federal government has refused to follow the stipulations of the contract and we continue to feel legally and morally obligated to pay. We are not under any moral obligation to recognize the authority of a governments that has invented and stolen its power. Of course the government could force us to obey its edicts and endure the confiscation of our liberty and property. These threats are becoming the primary motivation for the American people to yield to the increasing demands of Washington. No one wants to go pay a fine or go to jail, no one wants the stigma of being a criminal. But isn’t this how totalitarian regimes maintain control? Through intimidation and fear? In a republic, the government fears the people. If Washington can continue to count on our cooperation and support for their tyrannical actions, what do they have to fear? Nothing. Before our government’s despotism takes a very dark turn, we need to muster the courage of the original patriots, willing to risk it all and do what is right and moral, even if its not legal.
One of the major differences between a republic and an authoritarian dictatorship is the glue that holds it together. In a dictatorship order is established through fear. In a republic, the social order is held together by a common respect for the law and a mutual appreciation for the system. “Law and Order” has been ingrained in the American psyche since the beginning, and rightly so. Anarchy is the antithesis of the American experience. It is the moral character of the individual citizen and a respect for the law that allows our society to function smoothly without an overwhelming police presence. The reason our system works is because the vast majority of the people are inclined to obey the law, even if they don’t always agree with it.
The major reason for this is because we believe we live in a representative republic. We vote for people who make the laws with our best interests in mind. These leaders are supposed to respect our God given rights and create laws that solve any problems that crop up. Our system was designed to move slowly and deliberately so every law was carefully considered and the likelihood of a bad law being pushed through by a bad legislator or two was minimal. That was the idea. However, our republic now exists in form only and the system works very differently today.
The electoral system is designed to maintain party leadership through gerrymandered districts and the creation of law has been outsourced to lobbyists and special interests. Our legislators, by their own admission, don’t understand or even read the legislation they pass. Most power has passed to the executive branch which interprets and implements the arcane legalese of current legislation. The average citizen is, for all intents and purposes, locked out of this process. Laws come down from on high that, at best, may not have our best interests at heart, and at worst, may be detrimental to our liberty and the health of the country as a whole; but are very good for expanding the power of those in charge.
Consider where we are today. New laws, the rules of the game we are all supposed to respect and abide by, are being pushed by radical communists like Nancy Pelosi and voted on by congressmen who think islands tip over if too many people are put on them. They are written by radical policy groups, interpreted by executive branch bureaucrats and implemented by federal union workers. Does anyone think this is a system that works for us? The original cry of the rebellion was “No Taxation without Representation”. Our government has gone far beyond that. They create programs that create more problems and tear apart the very fabric of our society, rewarding immorality and corruption and punishing the “law abiding citizen”. They spend, borrow and print money in ways that will eventually destroy the economy. They confiscate the wealth of one citizen to give it to another and often that other isn’t even a citizen but a criminal alien. They give rights to terrorists and take them from us. The list could go on.
The question then becomes, are we obligated to dig our own grave? At what point does the system and the laws it produces become so immoral that it is moral to become criminal? Consider the civil rights movement of the sixties. The law says “sit in the back of the bus; drink from this water fountain; go to this diner.” They were all legitimate laws passed by democratically elected representatives. Perhaps the blacks had little or no say but do we really have any more? If we are told to sit in the back of the bus but can see that the bus is heading for a cliff, do we not have the moral duty to disobey the law in order to do the right thing and try to save the bus and everyone on it? At what point does an immoral law, a law that directly attacks our God-given rights and the guarantees to be secure in our person and property under our contract, motivate us to act morally? At what point does the confiscation of our property, the attempts to silence our speech, the removal of our rights to self protection and self determination become too much? How much must they take before we realize we have been raped and beaten and if we do nothing, the death blow will quickly follow?
The only obligation we have to follow the dictates and proclamations of the “gods” on Mt. Washington is the obligation we create in our own minds. We the people as part of the various states entered into a contract with the “national” government and that contract is called the Constitution. It defines the duties and responsibilities of both parties. The federal government has its areas of responsibility and the people and the states has theirs. There has been an egregious breach of that contract by the federal government. Look at it this way. If you and I enter into a business contract in which I promise to deliver some item and you promise to pay a certain price for it and I don’t deliver that item, are you morally or legally obligated to pay for it? Of course not. Yet our federal government has refused to follow the stipulations of the contract and we continue to feel legally and morally obligated to pay. We are not under any moral obligation to recognize the authority of a governments that has invented and stolen its power. Of course the government could force us to obey its edicts and endure the confiscation of our liberty and property. These threats are becoming the primary motivation for the American people to yield to the increasing demands of Washington. No one wants to go pay a fine or go to jail, no one wants the stigma of being a criminal. But isn’t this how totalitarian regimes maintain control? Through intimidation and fear? In a republic, the government fears the people. If Washington can continue to count on our cooperation and support for their tyrannical actions, what do they have to fear? Nothing. Before our government’s despotism takes a very dark turn, we need to muster the courage of the original patriots, willing to risk it all and do what is right and moral, even if its not legal.
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