Celebrating human achievement
Friday, February 4, 2005
By Henry Lamb
This essay celebrating the U.S. Constitution and the American government it created is a new
feature in ecologic. A part of the reason America seems to be drifting toward socialized global
governance is that we, as a nation, have lost sight of the values that made America the greatest
nation on earth. We invite all readers to submit essays that illustrate the values we celebrate as
Americans. We hope this feature will be an inspiration to all who visit here.
The U.S. Constitution may be humanity's greatest achievement toward the goal of self
governance. It is a product, not so much of inspiration, but of observation and hope. The men
who wrote it followed no pattern, but tried desperately to construct a system to prevent the
wrongs inherent in other governments. They did not succeed. The American system of
government is not free from wrongs. It is, however, the best system of self governance yet
devised. The government created by the U.S. Constitution is a human achievement. It is a
human achievement we celebrate.
But what, exactly, is it about the American system of government that makes it the best system
yet devised? If it is, in fact, the best system yet devised, why do so many people -- especially
Americans -- criticize it, and constantly try to change it. The answer is simple: because they
can.
The bedrock on which our Constitution -- and our system of government -- is founded is the
realization that people are born free. At birth, they are endowed by their creator with the right
and the ability to choose individually what actions they will take. Each person is empowered to
direct his own life. Each person is sovereign unto himself. Individual people, working in
concert, voluntarily agree to impose upon themselves a measured limitation of their freedom.
The U.S. Constitution articulates that agreement and measures the power sovereign individuals
bestow upon the institution of government. Those people who wrote the Constitution, and those
who subscribe to it, agree to be bound by the laws produced by the institution of government
because it is they, the individual people, who are the government. Upon this bedrock realization,
the people of America built a great nation because they were neither dependent upon
government nor limited by it.
To avoid the most oppressive wrongs inherent in previous governments, the people who wrote
the Constitution insisted that government could not restrict speech or the ideas conveyed by
speech. Government could not restrict or promote any religion. Government could not take the
private property of individuals without just compensation. Government, as designed by our
Constitution, respects the sovereignty of individuals and acknowledges the limitations those
individuals placed upon it.
To guard against the userpation of individual sovereignty by the government, its power was
carefully divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. To ensure that the new
government was accountable to the people who empowered it, direct elections selected the
individuals who would be entrusted with governmental authority. The two houses of the
legislative branch ensure that ideas for laws would be forced to survive the most arduous debate
before being imposed upon the people.
It is the genius of the legislative process that keeps the power of government in check. The
Constitution requires that laws originate in the legislature. Any elected representative may
introduce any proposed law that he wishes. Any American may support or oppose any legislative
proposal by attempting to persuade elected officials. In the legislative chambers any
representative may speak in support of opposition of any proposal. The fate of every legislative
proposal is determined by a public, recorded vote of the representatives, which makes them
directly accountable to their electors. Fortunately, most legislative proposals never make it
through the process. Those which do survive, rarely become law in their original form.
Legislative proposals are refined and polished in the process of debate. And even then, when a
law is enacted and later recognized to be bad, it can be changed or repealed by the legislature.
The system of government is truly the best system yet devised, but it is not perfect. It can never
be perfect until the people it represents are perfect. Government is a reflection of the people who
created it. Government can be no better that the people who empower it. Government will be, at
any given point in history, what the majority of people want it to be. That means that at any
given point in history, about half the people are happy with government, and about half are not.
The continual struggle between conflicting forces is what keeps the American government in
balance. Students of history can readily see the influence of conflicting social forces reflected in
the policies of government. Shifts in ideological direction are very slow in real time, but
historically, the shifts are fairly predictable and consistent. The system of government, created
by the writers of our Constitution, is flexible enough to accommodate ideological shifts and
technological innovation. When government goes astray, it is not because of the system, it is
because of the political forces that direct the government onto its wayward path. As the
counterbalancing force arises throughout the people, those people who are happy with
government become disenchanted and redouble their efforts to redirect to government. The
struggle is good, healthy, and what the founders envisioned.
Throughout the rest of the world, people long to come to America to partake of its bounty, but
few people outside America understand how America works or why it has become the greatest
nation on earth. Most people on earth cannot comprehend the bedrock realization on which
American was built. The idea that people are born free is incomprehensible to most of the
earth's population. Most people are not born free. They are born into a system of government
that possesses sovereign power over the lives of its citizens. Freedom of any sort is a gift from
government. Freedom to speak, worship, create, and even to work, is a privilege granted by
government. Private property ownership is a privilege granted -- or denied -- by government
according to the whims of government. Most people in the world are both dependent upon and
limited by their governments. When those people describe freedom, they speak of privileges that
have been granted by government; when Americans describe freedom, they speak of complete
individual freedom, except for those limitation they have voluntarily agreed to impose upon
themselves.
In those nations where government possesses sovereign power over the lives of individuals, those
who control government are the ruling class. New blood enters the ruling class, not be election,
but by selection. The ruling class chooses only those whose activities are consistent with their
own agenda to bring into the ruling class. Kings control the ruling class by bloodline. Dictators
control the ruling class by rewarding loyalty. Communist and socialist regimes control the ruling
class by carefully selecting those individuals who demonstrate solidarity of belief and
performance. Even parliamentary systems tend to reflect incestuous influence through the ruling
parties. Only in America can the people "throw the bums out" without fear of personal reprisals,
revolution and/or anarchy.
But the American system of government is changing. The U.S. Constitution -- even with its
enumerated powers -- is being ignored. New forces, external forces, are exerting influences that
challenge the bedrock realization of individual sovereignty, and are eroding the legislative
process as the mechanism for the creation public policy.
The United Nations has evolved its own hierarchy of elite rulers from nations that cling to the
notion that governments are sovereign over the freedoms of individuals. While the United
Nations claims to promote the expansion of democracy, what it means is that it will allow
individuals greater opportunity to participate in the process. The United Nations refuses to
accept the premise that it is the people who have the power to control government -- even the
United Nations. Most of the people of the world do not have the power to control the United
Nations. Their governments speak at the UN without fear of contradiction by its citizens.
American representatives to the UN may speak for the government, but with the certain
knowledge that their voice will be subject to the ultimate approval of the American people.
The power of the American people over its government is an obstacle to the objectives and
agenda of the United Nations. Therefore, a mechanism has been devised to diminish the power
of the legislative branch of government at every level. Public policy is being made by carefully
selected individuals, rather than by duly elected officials. Virtually every agency of the United
Nations consists of selected individuals rather than elected officials. Selected individuals
develop international policy and write international law. When an international treaty is ratified
by the U.S. Senate (a very troublesome process for the UN), American laws must be created or
amended to conform to the requirements of the treaty. Both the U.S. wetland policy and the
Endangered Species Act are the result of compliance with international treaties. The President's
Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) consists of selected individuals -- not elected
officials. Regional councils, consisting of selected individuals, operating under the auspices of
the PCSD, are now regionalizing the policy-making process through stakeholder councils,
consisting of selected individuals. The process is taking the policy-making process out of the
hands of elected officials, where there is direct accountability to the electors, and placing it in the
hands of individuals selected for their demonstrated compliance with the ideals of the elite ruling
class.
The perpetrators of this mischief have devised this mechanism not simply to control people, but
in the sincere belief that the American legislative process is an obstacle to progress that could
redirect their agenda away from policies which the ruling elite believe is essential for the well
being of society. Their view of society begins with the notion that government is sovereign over
the people. And that freedoms should be granted by government to individuals who meet their
responsibilities to the state. The philosophy of governance on which the United Nations system
is building its global governance regime is diametrically opposed to the philosophy upon which
the U.S. Constitution was constructed. A collision between those two philosophies is inevitable.
Indeed, the collision is immanent. America is the only nation that can prevent the UN
philosophy from emerging into full-blown global governance. Which philosophy will prevail in
America is not yet clear.
The UN philosophy is not invading America with black helicopters and blue-helmeted soldiers.
It is invading America through the Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological
Diversity, the Convention on Chemical Weapons, Agenda 21, the President's Council on
Sustainable Development, Ecosystem Management, American Heritage Rivers Initiative, Goals
2000, and an endless stream of policy recommendations that are being implemented without the
benefit of legislative debate and authorization.
The invasion of UN philosophy cannot be stopped by bullets or retreat to a survival community
in the mountains. It will be stopped by individuals exercising their individual sovereign power to
limit and control their government. It will be stopped by people who arm themselves with
factual information and persuade their city councilmen, county commissioners, state legislators,
and their Congressmen to not let their Constitutional authority be eroded by selected policy
makers. It will be stopped by individuals who attend stakeholder visioning meetings and object
to policies that diminish private property rights and individuals freedom. It will be stopped by
individuals and corporations who find new ways to let free markets solve social and
environmental problems. It will be stopped by free people exercising their inalienable right to
be free. The American government is the only nation on earth strong enough to stop the march
toward global governance. The American people are the only power on earth strong enough to
direct, or redirect, the American government.
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), and chairman of Sovereignty International.
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For further information please refer to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
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