I'm just getting started and it will be an evolution as I put this together and start to get the content into some sort of reasonable order and presentation - so bear with me.
Our Founder's gave us a Constitutional Republic, a nation based on democratic principles but NOT a "democracy". First formed as a Confederacy, they created a FEDERATION of sovereign States (the original colonies) each of which remained paramount and independent for the most part within their own borders and a "national" government to coordinate matters among the States and provide for the truly national matters, like national defense, a system of courts, roads, a post office and a few other essentials that no single State could or should provide or control. Their first attempt, created by The Articles of Confederation, was a failure. There was not sufficient organization and control for a Federal government to assure that the States would comply with it's provisions and our nation faced collapse. In response to this crisis, a new Convention was called to deal with the problems and find a solution by making changes to the Articles.
When the Convention came together it quickly became clear that the Articles could NOT be simply "fixed" and that an entirely new Constitution would be necessary, and the Founders proceeded to create one. They envisioned a LIMITED government at the Federal level, a government that would leave MOST matters to The People to decide for themselves or to the individual States. A relatively short list of authorities and powers were ENUMERATED and ONLY these authorities and powers were to be under the control of the Federal government - as is specifically stated in the Constitution.
But, as the Founders knew from their difficult and painful existence under the thumb of the British monarchy, power always grows and people seeking power help it do so. Almost immediately after it was put in place the Federal government began to grow and extend its control and power - at first in order to deal with the work that was properly its authority - but soon into areas of concern for which the Constitution provided the government NO AUTHORITY. We will explore more deeply how and why this happened, but the fundamental reason is that politicians seek always to get and hold power and to do this their main work after being elected ... is to become re-elected! To do this, they promised things ... to the voters they promised benefits doled out from the government (and paid for by taxes on EVERYONE) ... to financial backers they promised influence, preference or positions and lucrative contracts with the government. The pattern of governmental corruption began early.
In every decade, every administration, every Congress and in a constantly extended and inclusive manner the Federal government has steadily extended its control and power over more and more areas of our lives. Following its lead the State, county and local levels of government have also grown steadily and steadily raised the financial burden on The People. Together, they have steadily increased our taxes not only in amount but also as to WHAT is taxed until the majority of what we spend ACTUALLY GOES TO PAY FOR SOME LEVEL OF TAXATION. We have become tax slaves of government.
What are we to do? There are really only three choices ... do nothing, change the government or rise up in revolution. Any reasonable person will agree that the first alternative is the coward's way and the third choice should be taken only as a last resort when all else has failed. So ... how do we change the government?
THAT will be the subject of my next post.