Democracy: "The True Source of Power"

"Wendell Phillips said (though the quote is often mistakenly attributed to Thomas Jefferson), that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Phillips reminded people that they must be vigilant in making sure that the democrat (small "d") does not turn into a despot.

That quote is not only a warning, but a command to the people to exercise their power, for in our representative republic, the people, and not the government, provide the power to those entrusted with its exercise. If the citizenry is frivolous in their trust and their vigilance, the citizenry creates the despots it cries against. The citizenry become sheep for the slaughter on the altar of unbridled power.

I am constantly amazed that we have forgotten that the United States Constitution is but a limited grant of power by the people to the government. Our rights as citizens are natural rights granted by our Creator (and I personally don't care if you believe that Creator to be the Judeo-Christian God or Mother Nature). Without the consent of the people, our government would not exist. Without the consent of the people, our government will cease. The sovereignty of the United States, far from being the "divine right of kings," exists only as a social contract of free and independent beings not beholden to any power, but those who willingly grant power to others to form a more perfect union, provide for the general welfare, preserve the blessings of liberty, ensure domestic tranquility, establish justice, and provide for the common defense.

The Constitution does not grant liberty, but preserves it. Those who are bothered by the libertine actions of a few would do well to remember that, without protecting the libertines, we lose our liberty. My father, a veteran of World War II, used to say, "I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." He and a whole generation fought to preserve that which we may least like. They fought for the right to be free, to be left alone, to succeed or fail on our own merit, to worship and assemble as we see fit; they fought to protect a nation whose government answered to the people, and not the other way around.

We have lost our vigilance, our resolve, and our power. We are allowing government to control every facet of our lives under the guise of security, the "politically correct," or some less benign ideology of which we remain blissfully unaware. We sit comfortably numbed by what we perceive as government "gifts." We dare not speak against the democrat turned despot lest we lose our "entitlements." We refuse to exercise our duty as citizens to secure the blessings of the Almighty, not only for ourselves, but for others with whom we may not have a lot in common. We willingly give up the power of choice, and thus, our dignity as free beings. Personal responsibility for the welfare of our fellow citizens is but a memory, and we have lost our community. Anything that we, as citizens, claim we have lost, however, we have given away.

Perhaps we have given away our power because we don't want the responsibility. Perhaps we don't mind being the automatons of an institutional government headed toward total control of our bodies and our minds, for then we don't have to suffer the cost of our mistakes. Perhaps, rather than reveling in the promises of our choices, we would rather accept the mediocrity of the choices made for us. If that isn't what we want, we must return to our source of power, and reclaim it. It lies within us. With our power come costs and great responsibility. Eternal vigilance is but one of those costs. The benefits of maintaining our liberty and our power far outweigh the costs, however, for we can once again each soar to greater heights than ever imagined. The only way to reclaim our dignity and our birthright is for each individual to look in the mirror, demand his or her power back for himself and for others, and claim, "I am responsible."

- Mark D. Kimball, http://www.opednews.com/articles/
The-True-Source-of-Power-by-Mark-D-Kimball-090622-11.html

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