On March 23rd, 1775 in Virginia, the largest colony in America at that time, a meeting of the colony’s delegates was held in St. John’s Church in Richmond to vote on resolutions of defense for the colony as the war with England loomed and on its participation should war break out.
Patrick Henry, before a vote was taken on resolutions he presented in support of joining the other colonies in a war for freedom, spoke without any notes in a voice that became louder and louder, climaxing with the now famous ending,
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Have we come so far from those words and the meaning of liberty itself, that we are now a nation of people who would accept chains in return for a government providing for our every need? Are we a people who would give up our principles and perhaps most of our own sovereignty in exchange for peace defined as not having to take any individual action or responsibility?
We are burdened with crushing debt and even heavier unfunded liabilities necessary to support an expanding central government that is attempting to control every aspect of the lives of the American people. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, health care and business regulation are not found in the Constitution as powers of our central government. However, liberal interpretation – false interpretation if one reads the Federalist Papers – of the Commerce Clause and the Social Welfare Clause of the Constitution opened a back door for the central government to assume powers well beyond the seventeen outlined in the enumerated powers specifically granted therein. Each time a new power was taken, it was in return for some form of entitlement or relief from self-reliance. It has reached a point today where it is difficult to distinguish who has the greater hand, the central government or the people.
As the lame duck 111th Congress meets this week to conclude before its permanent adjournment, many issues are on its agenda ranging from extension of the current income tax rates, to a number of social and foreign policy issues. These matters need to be addressed but the continuing debate going into the 112th Congress, as demanded by the American people in the recent Midterm Election, needs to be focused on the continuation of individual liberty in our country. Those who believe in more central government control over our lives and those who still hold dear the principle of individual liberty, need to demand an open and direct debate by our elected representatives on the role of the central government and the future of liberty in our nation.
If the American people still believe that American Exceptionalism is defined by a government that is empowered by the people and which governs according to a system of individual liberties, then the debate will be won by those who believe in self-reliance and a smaller central government. This victory will establish the framework necessary to intelligently address entitlements, education, housing, welfare, the environment and especially health care. It will redefine where the central government’s power ends and where the authority of states and the people begins.
If we are going to avoid the loss of our sovereignty and of our freedom itself that will certainly result from the path toward financial ruin we are currently on, reducing the size and reach of the central government is the only workable initiative. Experience has taught us that more efficient use of resources is achieved by having state and local government, along with the private sector, take charge of the larger issues facing all of us.
Our Founders were careful to limit the powers of the central government because they feared the development of a ruling class in the free nation they envisioned. They clarified in writing parts of the Constitution and instructed future generations how not to misinterpret some of its meaning. We ignored their warnings too long and now must take action. The 112th Congress needs to tackle the issue of the size and reach of the central government and that is clearly what the American people are demanding.
Our elected representatives need to understand that the electorate is better informed that it has been is decades and is far more engaged in the political process then it has been since the formation of our nation. This involvement and cry for a return to greater individual liberty is only going to grow stronger.
There is also the practical need to unleash the American spirit and allow liberty to do what is has successfully done for the past 234 years, which is the generation of wealth; scientific, technological and medical advancement; and the superiority of military power – all of which has never been achieved together to the same degree by any other civilization in history. A return to individual liberty is what our country needs to avoid a financial collapse that will put us all in chains.
Robert Allen Bonelli is the author of “Liberty Rising,” an accomplished business executive, public speaker and involved citizen.
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