Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the United States has entered a post Constitutional era, similar to when Rome passed from a republic to a tyranny, America has thrown off her founding principles and replaced them with the authoritarian credo of a despot. All nations founded in liberty eventually follow this path. In all cases the path to authoritarianism is led by the elite, political, cultural and social. Sadly in every case the entering of an authoritarian era always leads the known world into a dark age. The distance in time between abandoning of the societal myth and the complete fall, depends on how tenacious the people are in holding onto their societal myth, divided by how corrupt the ruling class has become. The economic might of the nation is another factor crucial to the length of time a republic has, after it ceases to be a republic in fact, but in name only. In the case of Rome, the people held tightly to their societal myth, while in the US, the people have all but cast aside our societal myth. Given that fact, the time between entering our post constitutional era and the total collapse of our republic is probably very short indeed. When the US republic falls the world will be plunged into a dark age with horrors visited on mankind which could have never even been imagined before.
America is not any different than any of the republics that have come before. I like to use the example of Rome, because it was founded in liberty and collapsed in tyranny, making it a perfect example for the American experiment. The founding fathers looked to Rome for inspiration even considering using the consular system. That system was rejected in favor of the newer system of Constitutionalism. That Rome was a precursor and template for the American experiment is shown in our edifices that follow the Greek and Roman patterns. In fact even the very idea of a nation founded in liberty has it’s roots in the Greco-Roman tradition.
When Rome followed the republican path she saw an uninterrupted string of successes. No city state or empire could defeat her in war. The Roman economy was second to none and the people had a freedom of thought and action never before seen in humanity. Sparta was unbeatable when it followed the laws of Lycurgus. Once the Spartans tossed out Lycurgus’ laws they quickly collapsed and were subjugated by the Macedonians. Athens followed the laws of Draco then Solon. Once Pericles began using the ostracism as a political tool the fall of Athens to Sparta was at hand.
Athens, perhaps the most renowned democracy, gave rise to some of the most influential thinkers in human history culminating in Aristotle, who wrote Nicomachean Ethics. In which he enumerated the right forms of government and the wrong forms. His right forms were, monarchy, aristocracy and polity, and explained the wrong forms are perversions of the right forms, tyranny a perversion of monarchy, oligarchy a perversion of aristocracy and democracy the perversion of polity. He went on to argue a republic, or blending of the right forms, was the best possible form. That history was well known to the founding fathers of the American republic.
In all cases the elite led the people to ruin. My favorite story from the Spring and Summer Annuls, is the story of the Duke of Lu, who asked Confucius how he could get the people to be less greedy, not engage in adultery, and stop shirking their duty. Confucius answered by saying the Duke could stop doing these things himself and lead by example. Confucius and his disciples had to flee Lu state shortly after. The point of the story is that corruption flows from the top down, never from the bottom up. The people, busy with their own lives, have very little time to oversee the rulers and typically have no power over them anyway. So without consequences for villainy the rulers become ever more corrupt. The people see their leaders corruption and follow. Eventually, the society becomes a house of cards, so rotted it collapses at the first gust of wind.
Constitutionalism is supposed to strictly limit the ability of any government to become tyrannical. The concept was that a constitution is to be a contract between the governors and the governed, in which the people would give up some of their sovereignty to the government, for purposes of protecting the people’s property, lives and liberty. That concept has been evolved by the new class elite to mean something very different. Today constitutions are living breathing documents who’s meaning changes with the wants and avarice of the ruling elite. The words change meanings, the intent is ignored and the most absurd things are inferred into it. The US Constitution has become merely a pretty cloak to cover the emperor’s tyranny. Today the Constitution means whatever the elite claim it does.
The meaning of the US Constitution has been so bastardized it bears no resemblance to the original document at all. This started under Teddy Roosevelt, was accelerated by Woodrow Wilson, was cast in stone by Franklin Roosevelt and our Constitution has become utterly irrelevant under Barack Obama. Obama creates legislation by fiat, the legislative branch has become nothing more than a chatterbox that has given away all it’s real power to the bureaucracy, while the Judicial branch has overseen the transition to our post Constitutional era with delight. The amendments have been so perverted they mean nothing. Freedom of religion has given way to the state religion of atheism, the freedom to keep and bear arms has been so infringed the people have been effectively disarmed, the police have become militarized to the point of becoming a modern praetorian guard, the Tenth amendment is superfluous, since virtually all power has been elevated to the Federal government, the list goes on and on.
Yes the United States has abandoned our Constitution and most of the people could care less. The few who stand for our founding principles are attacked as extremists while those who openly avow to overthrow our system are mainstream. Our economy has been hollowed out so badly it takes over two hundred billion dollars printed a month, to keep our economic balloon inflated, our government has us in a perpetual state of war, our standard of living is diminishing at an ever faster rate, the President now has arbitrary rule, our universities have become mere indoctrination centers for Marxists and our entertainment elite parade a plethora of absurdities in front of us to keep us distracted. Elitist theory is adamant about one thing, great civilizations are never overthrown from without, they are always hollowed out by corruption from within… and once the fall comes, it is because the civilization is ripe for it.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
