Still, as president, I have a unique responsibility to try and make this town work. So, to everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you. To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too.--President Obama 11/5/2014
I used to be a believer in our electoral system. I fell for all of that pseudo-patriotic pablum.
One person, one vote.
People died for your right to vote.
It's your duty as an American.
I fell for their trap. It's friggin' brilliant.
It's the belief that the people who are elected to office will fulfill their sworn pledge to uphold the Constitution. More importantly, if they don't uphold their pledge, they can be removed, and someone of integrity and honor can replace them.
It sounds great on paper, but is an abysmal failure in practice.
I've been on this planet for over half a century now. I've seen Democrats and Republicans in every federal office in this land. They all say the same thing: Vote for me, and I'll change the way things are run.
In they're voted, and nothing changes. Not some of the time, all of the time. The only difference between the Ds and the Rs is which special-interest group gets our largess.
Our vote does one thing, and one thing only: It give legitimacy to the elected. The people have spoken!
Stalin, Saddam Hussein, and that whack-job in North Korea all got 98+% of the "vote". It's absurd on its face.
Here in America, the winner is usually in the mid- to upper-fifty percent range of the "popular vote". These are the people that actually got up and voted.
But, as Barry so accurately noted, last time around, two-thirds of those eligible to vote chose not to do so.
That whole popular vote badge of honor is beginning to carry the same gravitas as a "lower unemployment rate". The calculation is irrelevant when the entire eligible population is not included.
The people have indeed spoken. By greater and greater numbers they're not participating in the ruse. By not voting, they're lessening the legitimacy of the elected.
---
Certainly, a large percentage of mid-term election non-voters is simply apathy. They can't be bothered.
But in the last presidential election in 2012 - a hotly contested and emotional event - the trend was still down, and particularly disturbing to the politicians -
In swing or battleground states, [...] the average turnout in this year’s [2012] election was 62.7 percent of eligible voters. Across the rest of the nation, average turnout was 54.8 percent.In most of America, about half of registered voters didn't vote. Nearly 100 million eligible Americans decided not to play the game.
---
"But Chief, we're a Constitutional Republic. If you don't vote, the Constitution can't be preserved."
Really? A Constitutional Republic means that the country is republican (small R) in nature - the citizens vote in other people to represent them - and is guided and restrained by a legal document called a Constitution.
The elected can only act within the confines detailed in the legal document. If the elected wish to change the scope of their powers and duties, the People must agree to these changes via the amendment process that is contained in the Constitution.
We've done it lots of times, and the process works.
If you think that's where we are - that our country is still a Constitutional Republic - here's what I want you to do: I want you to take an hour, go on the Internet and find the names of every federal department, agency and service you can find.
There are a lot of them, so you won't find them all in an hour. Stop at that point, though, or you'll go nuts.
Then take out a copy of the Constitution, and jot down the article or amendment that allows the existence of that department, agency or service.
Keep in mind that unless something is specifically granted in the Constitution, the federal government cannot do it.
The founders made this crystal clear with Amendment 10:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.So, let's take the Department of Education for example. Is the federal government constitutionally empowered to have anything to do with education? No. Does anything in the Constitution prohibit a state from establishing a Department of Education? No.
Only a state - if it so chooses - could have a DOE. That means that the federal DOE is unconstitutional.
It's a $141,000,000,000 a year (that's 141 billion dollars) sucking hole. An unconstitutional sucking hole.
And that's just one department.
It was established under Jimmy Carter - a Democrat - in 1979.
The tally -
Carter - Democrat
Reagan - Republican
Reagan - Republican
Bush - Republican
Clinton - Democrat
Clinton - Democrat
Bush - Republican
Bush - Republican
Obama - Democrat
Obama - Democrat
Hmm. Looks pretty evenly split. Both sides had the ability and opportunity to show their constitutional stripes and abolish this department.
It is perhaps the easiest, most grotesque, most obviously unconstitutional federal department we've got. It's a "sitting duck" for elimination.
Yet there it sits. For the last 35 years.
So, those of you who say we must vote to protect the Constitution and the country are delusional. You too have fallen for the trap.
It's done. Put a bow on it. Say a prayer for its passing, 'cause it's gone.
---
It's time to deal with what we've got, not what we had.
History has shown us that as tyranny - uncontrolled and unaccountable government - grows, things like food, money, personal freedom and the ability to protect ourselves are used against us to control the population.
Dissidents are imprisoned. Food is controlled by the State, as is the medium of financial exchange. No one but government forces are allowed arms - and those are not used for self-defense, but for control of the population.
These tyrannical governments always end in one of two ways: They simply crumble under their own weight (i.e., Roman Empire, USSR) or there is revolution (i.e., France, USA). Usually a combination of both.
Take a couple of minutes and read this short summation on the fall of the Roman Empire. Tell me you can't see the identical things happening here in America.
We're repeating history. And not in a good way.
It always comes back to the basics: Ensure food security, financial security, self-defense security. Get these taken care of while the getting is good.
Store food, know how to grow/raise food, know how to forage, trap and hunt food.
Have cash, precious metals, barter goods and skills.
Have pistols, rifles, ammo, cleaning kits, pepper spray, stun guns.
Have all of these things, and have them in multiple locations.
Have back ups for your back ups. Regardless of the situation - job loss, civil unrest, martial law, TEOTWAWKI - you need to assume you'll lose some of what you've got. Plan for this. This is what we "whacko preppers" do.
---
BTW, I do vote for my state and local officials and referendums. Although, here in the Land of Fruits and Nuts - California - the state elections are moving along the lines of the federal elections.
For example, if you were an elected official - a state senator, no less - and were found guilty of 8 FELONIES, including perjury and fraud, how long would you expect to be in jail?
I'm guessing no one said, "90 minutes".
Yeah, 11 minutes per felony. Must be nice.
Vote your conscience, not for "the lesser of two evils". You'd still be voting for evil.
---
Share this post! Click the Twitter, Facebook or Google+ icon below, and let your friends know!
Copyright 2014 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com
No comments:
Post a Comment