The path to socialism – Part I
“We do not have socialism. We have regulated capitalism.” – ISJ reader comment
Is that true? Is it all or none? Or is the path to socialism a process so slow that each individual step is logical, masking the eventual outcome and encouraging inattention and indifference until it’s too late? More important, if we are not yet socialist, is our federal government still the limited government the founding fathers created with the United States Constitution?
Does it still respect state’s rights? Does it still respect individual rights and freedoms? Before answering, remember that this past summer the Second Amendment was upheld by only a 5-4 vote of the Supreme Court, a constitutionally guaranteed right only one political appointment away from revocation.
Is this what the founding fathers intended for the federal government they created? Or, did they intend something different, something limited, something not at all like our federal government? What was the purpose of the United States Constitution? Why did the states create a federal government and what did they want it to do?
The states had some common needs, like defense, they realized could be more efficiently managed as a national unit rather than individually. But they only intended the federal government to oversee a limited number of things on their behalf, demanding the government they created remain subservient to the states, which were subservient to the people?
Although the Constitution lists the limited powers of the federal government, in 1791 the states added the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, because they wanted to better clarify the people’s and the state’s rights. Keep in mind that these rights are not the same as privileges granted by the government. Our rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and the government cannot amend or revoke them, although the Supreme Court came perilously close this summer.
Moreover, with the Tenth Amendment, the founding fathers intended to prevent the federal government from usurping powers not in the Constitution – “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.”
With ratification of the Constitution and these amendments, neither the people nor the states abdicated control to the federal government. Instead, if you will, the states employed the federal government to perform certain tasks for them, outlined in a contract – The United States Constitution. Has the federal government been a good employee? Has it honored the terms of its contract with the states and the people?
In the 219 years since the Bill of Rights, only 17 amendments have been added to the Constitution; only 17 times has the federal government admitted it needed an amendment to address an issue before it. Is that logical? Do you believe the founding fathers were so brilliant that they capably addressed all but 17 issues?
Instead, maybe the founding fathers knew they could not address all that was to change, and in anticipation of needed changes to the Constitution, they gave us Article V, a mechanism to amend it when needed.
Perhaps they also appreciated and valued the sanctity of the United States Constitution, intentionally designing it to be cumbersome to amend, requiring the agreement of two-thirds of each house of Congress and three-fourths of the states. Perhaps they recognized that something as important as our Constitution should not be amended lightly, should not be amended at a whim, should not be amended as political fortunes dictate.
Would they be appalled with the irreverence and irrelevance our federal government shows the Constitution, reducing it to a constitution in name only. Would they be appalled that our federal government ignores the Constitution with its legislation and Supreme Court rulings, offering only a passing nod to the document they swore to uphold and defend?
What happened? How have we strayed so far from the Constitution and gone so far down the path towards what we fought and died to leave?
Regulated capitalism or path to socialism?
(Next week – The beginning of the end)
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