A Truly American Idea

[buster2209]

Thought I'd share this article as it oozes common sense.

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/article...ericanIdea.htm

American Idea

BY WALTER WILLIAMS

RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009

Americans are harder workers, more philanthropic, individualistic, self-reliant, anti-government than people in most other countries. We’ve turned what was an 18th-century Third World nation into the freest and most prosperous nation in mankind’s entire history. Throughout our history, United States has been a magnet for immigrants around the world. What accounts for what some have called American exceptionalism?

We Americans, as human beings, are no different from any other people, including Germans, Russians, Chinese, Africans and other people who have produced tyrannical regimes such as those of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Idi Amin. As such we are just as capable of committing acts of gross evil that have been a part of mankind throughout his history. We’ve not been a perfect nation but we’ve never approached the level of hideousness seen in other nations. That’s despite the fact that our population consists of people who have for centuries been trying to slaughter one another in their home countries, whether it’s between the French and Germans, English and Irish, Japanese and Chinese, or Palestinians and Jews, Igbos and the Hausa of Nigeria. Thrown into the American mosaic are religions that have been in conflict for centuries such as Catholic and Protestant, and Christian and Muslim. The question is: Why is the United States an exception and will it remain so?

At the heart of the American idea is the deep distrust and suspicion the founders of our nation had for government, distrust and suspicion not shared as much by today’s Americans. Some of the founders’ distrust is seen in our Constitution’s language such as Congress shall not: abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, violate and deny. If the founders did not believe Congress would abuse our God-given rights, they would not have provided those protections. After all, one would not expect to find a Bill of Rights in Heaven; it would be an affront to God. Other founder distrust for government is found in the Constitution’s separation of powers, checks and balances and the several anti-majoritarian provisions such as the Electoral College and the requirement that three-quarters of state legislatures ratify changes in the Constitution.

The three branches of our federal government are no longer bound by the Constitution as the framers envisioned and what is worse is American ignorance and acceptance of such rogue behavior. Look at the current debate over government involvement in health, business bailouts and stimulus packages. The debate centers around questions as whether such involvement is a good idea or a bad idea and whether one program is more costly than another. Those questions are entirely irrelevant to what should be debated, namely: Is such government involvement in our lives permissible under the U.S. Constitution?

That question is not part of the debate. The American people, along with our elected representatives, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, care less about what is and what is not permissible under our Constitution. They think Congress has the right to do anything upon which they can secure a majority vote, whether they have the constitutional or moral authority to do so or not. What Congress does have is the brute force to enforce compliance with their unconstitutional acts. You say, "What do you mean, Williams?" Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to tax and spend for the enumerated activities therein. Every American is duty bound to pay his share. Congress has neither constitution nor moral authority to take the earnings of one American for the benefit of another American. What do you think will happen to you if don’t comply, say with Congress' demand that part of your earnings be taken to bail out a failing business? You’ll see all the brute force that you want to see and if you resist too much, death is not off the table.

We are losing what’s made our country great. Instead of moving toward greater liberty, we’re moving toward greater government control of our lives.

In case people were wondering, this article goes a long way to explaining why I came here to live with my wife rather than her going to England to live with me.

NOTE: Bold parts were done by me, not the original author.

[o1dakota440]

can i get an amen!!!!
great post

[Warpt762x39]

Damn you and your spot on posts! J/k. Another good post. It's kinda sad that a freaking Englishman is teaching us how to be Americans. Whoda thunk it? Lol.

[buster2209]

Damn you and your spot on posts! J/k. Another good post. It's kinda sad that a freaking Englishman is teaching us how to be Americans. Whoda thunk it? Lol.

Yeah, I get that quite a bit and it prompted me to think why is that and I came to the following conclusions;

Firstly, the first time I came to this country I didn't know your independence was from the British, it was simply something we were never taught in school.

Secondly, due to this fact, I was never indoctrinated by your public school system to believe the Federal Government is the supreme ruler of the USA.

Thirdly, I was so thoroughly angry at myself that I didn't know that you fought your independence from the British, I began to research the history of the USA and here I am today.

I have a unique perspective because I was not raised 'in the (American) bubble' as I like to call it. I only understood the real reason for the second amendment about a year ago, until then, 'yanks' were just 'gun toting hicks' to me.

I also used to quite happily suck from the teet of the state until about 2 years ago.

[andrewjs18]

Yeah, I get that quite a bit and it prompted me to think why is that and I came to the following conclusions;

Firstly, the first time I came to this country I didn't know your independence was from the British, it was simply something we were never taught in school.

Secondly, due to this fact, I was never indoctrinated by your public school system to believe the Federal Government is the supreme ruler of the USA.

Thirdly, I was so thoroughly angry at myself that I didn't know that you fought your independence from the British, I began to research the history of the USA and here I am today.

I have a unique perspective because I was not raised 'in the (American) bubble' as I like to call it. I only understood the real reason for the second amendment about a year ago, until then, 'yanks' were just 'gun toting hicks' to me.

I also used to quite happily suck from the teet of the state until about 2 years ago.

we enjoy a good Brit every now and then. =P Keep the good posts coming, Buster.

[wa3ra]

People that come here from another country have the unique perspective of earning the right to be an American; that right comes with tremendous responsibilities that the newcomers are glad to take on.

'Americans' are often such only by accident of birth; heaven knows the schools aren't teaching citizenship anymore.

My wife does cross-stitch. She had created an absolutely beautiful piece, with a flag backdrop, the bald eagle,and the first page of the Constitution. The thing was incredible, we were going to frame it...but the last time that we were at the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, one of the other dads there had just become a citizen, and she offered it to him, as a present for joining us here; many joyful tears were shed that day, by everyone there. He tried to pay here for it, but we wouldn't hear of it; we introduced hiome to the concept of 'pay it forward'...sometime, when you find someone who needs help, or a ahnd, or just a shoulder, give it to them, with the understanding that the only 'payment' they need give is to pass the same thing on to the next person.

That very minute, he turned to his wife, and the other people in the room (keep in mind the purpose of the Ronald McDonald House), and said' I could never explain to people what it was that I saw in the USA that made me want to come here so badly. I think that now I understand. An American will aid somebody in any way they can, and all they expect in return is that when I can pass the favor on, that I will. That, my dear friends, is America, and that is why I want to raise my family here.

I was never so proud to be an American as at that moment, because he summed it up right then and there.

THAT is America!

[buster2209]

People that come here from another country have the unique perspective of earning the right to be an American; that right comes with tremendous responsibilities that the newcomers are glad to take on.

'Americans' are often such only by accident of birth; heaven knows the schools aren't teaching citizenship anymore.

My wife does cross-stitch. She had created an absolutely beautiful piece, with a flag backdrop, the bald eagle,and the first page of the Constitution. The thing was incredible, we were going to frame it...but the last time that we were at the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, one of the other dads there had just become a citizen, and she offered it to him, as a present for joining us here; many joyful tears were shed that day, by everyone there. He tried to pay here for it, but we wouldn't hear of it; we introduced hiome to the concept of 'pay it forward'...sometime, when you find someone who needs help, or a ahnd, or just a shoulder, give it to them, with the understanding that the only 'payment' they need give is to pass the same thing on to the next person.

That very minute, he turned to his wife, and the other people in the room (keep in mind the purpose of the Ronald McDonald House), and said' I could never explain to people what it was that I saw in the USA that made me want to come here so badly. I think that now I understand. An American will aid somebody in any way they can, and all they expect in return is that when I can pass the favor on, that I will. That, my dear friends, is America, and that is why I want to raise my family here.

I was never so proud to be an American as at that moment, because he summed it up right then and there.

THAT is America!

Have to give you some rep for this post and a big;

FUK AYE!!

[CapnOfMyFate]

Thank you for sharing that article and reminding us why America originally became a bastion of liberty and freedom. I wish more people heeded the history of the U.S. instead of running headlong into a "brave new world" where our history is rendered obsolescent and the citizens care not what their elected officials do so long as they get what they desire.

[buster2209]

Thank you for sharing that article and reminding us why America originally became a bastion of liberty and freedom. I wish more people heeded the history of the U.S. instead of running headlong into a "brave new world" where our history is rendered obsolescent and the citizens care not what their elected officials do so long as they get what they desire.

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." - T Jefferson

That's why the Founding Fathers created a Republic and not a Democracy.

Someone needs to tell the pricks in DC that!

[andrewjs18]

That's why the Founding Fathers created a Republic and not a Democracy.

Someone needs to tell the pricks in DC that!

we're trying......we can't let off though..we need to keep supporting liberty & freedom. =)