by: Hesh Goldstein
When I was a little kid growing up in Newark and going to Bergen Street elementary school, I remember a teacher reading something to us in class one day. It went something like this:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
These words are from our Declaration of Independence, and unfortunately, not from our Constitution. And from these principles, we Americans, lay claim to a rather unique and somewhat revolutionary legacy. That being that every person can lay claim to his or her own sovereignty just by being born, and that these rights don't come from any government or person.
One of the basic principles on which our country was founded is that individuals have all these rights. Unfortunately, we give away some of them to our government. This is done voluntarily as it is not the law.
An opposing view says that government has all the rights and powers, and gives whatever it decides is appropriate back to the people.
I also learned, as a kid, that we were in government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And most people expect that the government leaders we elect keep certain concepts in mind: they're going to keep us safe, they will better help us manage our resources most efficiently for our mutual benefit, and will respect our decisions to live our lives as we choose.
As you are reading this, I'm sure you grew up understanding this concept as well. But a strange thing has happened. Bit by bit our community lets our freedoms die and allows our elected politicians to have more power over our daily lives.
In Hawaii County, for example, there is a ban on using plastic bags to put your groceries in. This may not seem like a big deal but in reality, it's just another grab of power by government. It's a case of 5 out of 9 County Council members and the mayor telling 185,000 people how they should live part of their lives without even the courtesy of a referendum. Needless to say if there were a referendum at least the people would all get a vote.
This may sound extremely insignificant but it's the latest in a lot of laws that are geared to micro-manage peoples daily lives.
But it doesn't end with banning plastic bags. We're told what kind of light bulbs to buy, we are told what kind of shower heads to use, what toilet bowls to use, what water heaters are appropriate, what windows work best in our homes, what types of fat, in our foods, are best to eat, what's an acceptable salt content, what kind of foods we should give our kids to take to school, and now, a consideration of the best toilet paper to use.
At the other end of the rights spectrum is the Obamacare law mandating that everyone obtain government-specified health insurance that includes micro-chipping. And if you're alive and breathing, you must obey!
So, if the federal power, to enact such economic mandates is upheld by the US Supreme Court, Congress would be free to require anything of the citizens in the name of a regulatory plan, and fundamentally alter the relationship of the state to the people.
If the Constitution would no longer limit federal power, what would stop Congress theoretically from legally requiring that people buy and eat sauerkraut?
Okay, so I'm taking a walk on the wild side. But when was the last time a law was passed that gave us back an individual right or power?
It seems as if this is a one directional government. One that takes away personal sovereignty and rights and one that gives more power and control to government.
That being the case, what can we, the freedom-loving people do?
First of all, we have to recognize the problem and resist it at every turn. We have to demand that all of our politicians, be they federal, state, city, Council, or what ever, respect our individual rights and our freedom of choice and stop passing these insane laws.
We have to change our charters, our bylaws, and our ideals and put the power back into the hands of the people and truly make that elected official a representative of the people.
We have to refuse to vote for any politician who does not respect our freedoms, including the president and all the ones that support his ridiculous insanities.
We used to be, as I said earlier, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
But lately, our politicians accept campaign contributions and continuing contributions, while in office, from Monsanto, Pfizer, Syngenta, Dow, and others that simply want laws passed to support their businesses.
Monsanto says they want to feed the world but they don't want their garbage labeled. The pharmaceutical industry says that boys need to be vaccinated to protect them from getting cervical cancer when they don't have a cervix. And to justify this they take their former corporate executives and put them in charge of the government agencies that approve or disapprove their corporate products.
This is not the time for complacency. The best way to vote for change is to re-elect none of them.
