Can the same word or term mean different things? When a "progressive" talks about the government of "We the people" is it the same thing that the Founders meant when they wrote "We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union?" Is the People's Republic of China different than the government "of the People, by the People, and for the People?" Does it tell us anything that the Declaration of Independence refers to "the State of Great Britain," and establishment of "Free and Independent States?"
While many think of the Individual States as subservient to the Federal Government, the word "State" is a synonym of "Nation," not "Province." But, I have addressed the importance and reality of that difference elsewhere.
The question of the day is concerning "the People's government." Communism often used "the people" to describe it's authoritarian government. A tenet of its propaganda was that "the people," meaning the government owned everything, and the Individual owned nothing. Theoretically, "the people" were equal in their misery, in a "utopia" where greed was eliminated, and the "intellectual elite" had equal shares of misery as did the illiterate farmer in the field. The reality was far different as the Rulers had benefit of all things the government owned, while their subjects were given just enough to get by. The subjects' "right to work" was not a right at all, but a demand, and usually a demand to produce more than was possible, because they were not allowed to keep much of any of their labors.
The Constitutional Republic created by Our Founders was an exact opposite of the Communism of Marx, Lenin, and Mao, and yet Our Founders also stressed that government was a function of "We, the People." As the most basic premise of the Constitution is the principal that Individual Citizens are the Masters of government, not the servants of it.
While Communism insinuated that people needed own nothing because they owned everything, the reality was far different. Those that attempted to use materials owned by them and everyone, which had not been authorized to them specifically, found themselves in the Siberian prison camps that they and everyone else owned. It was the People's Prison, where government and "the people" were synonymous.
Conversely, the Founders deemed the government an evil but necessary exercise with no authority but that which was granted it by the People. They did not give the government any more land than they deemed absolutely necessary, nor more power than they felt they must. They wrote the Bill of Rights as absolutes that the government could never take away from the Individual. They did not extend equal results to the Citizen, but rather equal opportunity, and the Right to retain the results by the Individual that seized those opportunities.
The difference between Communism and Capitalism is the difference between equal (miserable) results and equal opportunity and retention of those results, regardless of how unequal. It is the difference between Government ownership of everything and Individual Liberty of the Citizenry.
While the Founders laid out that the Federal governments properties were not subject to interference by the States, they also established that the Federal government needed little land to perform its limited duties. They established a separate district, outside of the States, and donated by two of the States, as that place, so none of the States would exert undue influence over the Federal government.
Often today, when people reference "We the People" they are demanding that some Citizens give up their Rights because they claim a majority of voters support the government having more property, more taxes, and more power. Prosecutors often refer to "the People" taking actions against Citizens, in trials of Citizens, who Constitutionally are presumed to be innocent. "The People" aren't calling for these prosecutions. The Government is. "The People" most often don't even know what has been alleged by the government, and even less often see the evidence in the case. The Founders guaranteed Citizens the Right to be judged by a jury of their peers, to try to balance out the prosecution by the government.
While technically, "the People" are the Individual owners of all public lands, the reality is that the government is the sole property owner. And the government will prosecute you if you decide to take something from its land without permission. The government will put government owned handcuffs on you, put you in a government owned car, transport you to a government owned jail, then to a government owned court, so that a government employee can "plead" the government case, to another government employee, that you should be constrained by other government employees, if you are caught by yet another government employee taking property from "the people's property."
That really doesn't sound all that different from the days when the King's guard threw his subjects in prison for hunting the King's deer in the King's forests, does it? The difference is that today, we call it "the people's property" and explain that stealing it is stealing from all the people, even though one of the People deemed that he needed to use it.
But let's take a walk down the road of Individual Rights of the Constitution. As the Individual Citizen is equal to all other Individual Citizens, and a master of his government, he gets up in the morning, holsters his M9 Beretta under his jacket, slings his M4 over it, and walks down to the town square, where he meets the elected head of government, expresses his opinion that said politician is a low life scum, whom he believes God will damn to an eternity in fire and brimstone. The politician responds with flowery speech of how his parties are open to all, with beautiful women and free flowing wine, as well as the best caviar from the Caspian Sea. Our Independent Citizen points out that the politician is buying votes with "the people's" treasury, and God condemns the debauchery of drunkenness and womanizing.
As the voices elevate, a policeman arrives and sees that no crime is being committed. It is only two men expressing their opinions. A judge arrives and issues no warrants, as the Citizen has presented no proof of bribery or theft. A priest arrives and invites the politician to confessional which the politician declines and no one forces him to go. The man is not searched as there is no cause. The politician is not jailed for there is no proof.
On the other side of the world, an Iranian whispers to his friend that he fears there is no Allah, for the Ayatollah bequeaths so little to the impoverished. A Korean whispers to his neighbor that he wonders if the rice does not come from America, rather than the Dear Leader, for it bears their Flag rather than his seal. Fearing a trap, the friend tells the mullah and the neighbor tells "the Party." The Iranian and the Korean are sent to political prisons for re-education. "The People" have spoken and the Iranian learns to be grateful that only his liberties have been lost, rather than his life, for his thoughts are blasphemy. The Korean learns to be grateful for what few kernels of rice "the People's guard" allots him each day.
Our Citizen on the other hand, after working the day away comes home and begins thinking of his discussion and becomes more convinced that the head of government is wasting the Treasury. He types a letter to the local editor saying so. The editor declines to print the letter as he says it is nothing but rumor and innuendo. The Citizen starts a blog and prints it there. The prosecutor reads the blog and decides to look for himself. He subpoenas the records of the Treasury and finds that the head of government is indeed spending the Treasury on lavish parties. He takes the politician to court and lays out his case. The defense retorts that every Citizen is invited to the parties and the funds are approved by the Council as a service to "the People." The Politician is found innocent of wrongdoing, but the People have learned of the lavishness.
Our Citizen continues his blog and the Politician is incensed. He calls the tax collector and orders an audit, but the tax collector responds that he has no proof of a crime. He tells the politician that the Law states Our Citizen has a Right to be Secure in his Papers and Effects. The Politician calls the Policeman and orders a search of Our Citizen's house. The Policeman responds that he has no warrant. He calls the Judge and demands a warrant. The Judge asks for proof of reasonable suspicion but given none, the Judge tells the politician Our Citizen has a Right to be secure in his home. The politician calls the General and orders his Troops to be put in the new Fort of the Citizens House. The General responds that the Citizen has a Right to be compensated if the Army needs his property.
Being unhappy with the way his government is spending his money, Our Citizen uses his blog to call for the election of a different caretaker of it. A businessman is found, who promises to spend the taxes on schools and roads rather than wine and women. Our Citizen endorses him in his Blog.
We, "The People," are Citizens with inalienable Rights, and are the Masters of the Government, not merely subjects of it. Our Rights are absolute. We cannot take those Rights from fellow Citizens, no matter how many of us agree to do so. The officials of government are NOT Our Masters. They are Our Servants. They are entrusted by us to oversee the organs of government, not endowed by us to subject us to their whims. Law Enforcement officials are not empowered as agents of the ruling class to enforce the will of government on us, but entrusted by us to remove criminals from Our Streets. Properties owned by the government are properties that are no longer putting tax money in the Treasury, but costing money of the Treasury. Bureaucrats are not the authority of which businesses should profit or which should be closed, nor are they the decision makers of who is taxed and who is subsidized. They are additional costs to ensuring that the necessities of the infrastructure needed is put in place.
This Nation was founded on the Principal that each Citizen has the same Rights and equal opportunity as every employee of their government, including the guy that presides over those employees. That's why we call him "the President," rather than the King. It was founded as a Constitutional Republic, not as a democracy, because Our Founders recognized the need for Representatives of the People, and a need to guarantee the Rights of Citizens in the face of politicians and their desire for power.
It is long past time that we recognize the importance of Equal Citizens and the subservience of government to them. It is time that we admit what is "the government" and what is "We, The People." And it is time that when the government acts against a Citizen, we end this propaganda that it is instead "The People" who are acting against a member of their own.
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