So the People who shaped our country saw what potential we had if we left people alone to prosper without their Government present to tax away their profits and dictate their god.
This is what makes our constitution so phenomenal; There was a perfect combination of men who were perfect to make this work. There were thinkers like John Locke who would read Adam Smith's works and see how people acted in a free market economy and so far away from their King. This could almost be considered a freak accident, having so many educated, inspired, and brave people all united for a cause. It would seem that there were never a more ready people to start a new country.
Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet labeled "Common Sense" in 1776, which he used to reason with the Colonists to join in the change, and see the potential that these people could have as a unified country. He explained that "Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness". Paine proceeds to Show the flaw in having a King, and what a greater benefit our country would have were we to be self-governed.
The beauty of it all was that in this society, there were few rules laid by the government, and the purpose of it all was that we would all be self-governed. If something immoral or dangerous, then it is our fault to fall into something that would harm us. To oversimplify, it was perfectly legal to yell "fire" in a theater, but who really wants to cause a panic when Transformers is on?
This pamphlet seemed to push the Americans sitting on the fence into supporting the soon coming revolution. Just months later Our independence was declared, and our country would know how to operate independent of a monarch.
The idea was to have as little government as possible. To let these oppressed people be free to live their lives as they pleased, and for them to be free to accept the outcome. The government was to only have as little power as possible over its own people. Besides the Post Office, the military was the only service that was offered from the federal Government.
Heres how Walt Whitman put it, and I'll leave it like this:
To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist
much, obey little,
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever
afterward resumes its liberty.
To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist
much, obey little,
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever
afterward resumes its liberty.
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Thanks for writing man. I really like the Walt Whitman at the end. I especially agree with, "Resist much, obey little,"
ReplyDeleteThat said, I was wondering how I can believe this in light of some of the stuff in Romans 13. Perhaps this tangent is somthing you'd like to stray from and if you delete this comment, I won't mind. I would like to talk about it though with a fellow christian. It is somthing I struggle with.
when I consider "Resist much, obey little." I'm ok with it even though the bible says, "Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established." My reasoning is that I think that government is a dangerous(little g)god. Am I taking Romans 13 out of context? looking at it the wrong way? What do you think?