You put that extremely well! I could not say it any better. We are here because what we do works, and when it doesn't, we are gone. I have many times reminded myself that I am more fortunate than 99% of the population of the world, usually after a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself...and yes, it does take constant work and attention to stay free, and we still aren't guaranteed freedom just because we put in the time...a lot of us have to be going in the same direction...a really, really, really lot of us...Jane "Democracy: Two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch!!!" Restore the Republic, RON PAUL for President
links: http://www.quicksitemaker.com/members/sandsgeniuses/ http://www.quicksitemaker.com/members/rdwdtreewoman/ BLOGS: http://mejane100.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/hello-world/ http://blog.bobbeck.com/, http://mejane11.wordpress.com/ ----- Original Message ---- From: Jon Roland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 12:54:05 AM Subject: Re: [Libertarian] Why Limited Representative Government Fails by Michael S. Rozeff The author of the article makes a false premise. Representation was never intended to be sufficient to maintain limited government. Limited government depends, then, now, and always, on the people doing their civic duty of maintaining the fine balance between too much and too little power. Constitutional government is intrinsically metastable. Everything else in the Constitution, the separation of powers, a Bill of Rights, various procedures, are just ways to make it a little easier for them to do that. People need to get it through their heads: /There cannot be any constitution of government that will ever ensure liberty without a massive effort by almost everyone./ Not even the complete absence of government. But that effort is worth it. If people get so complacent that they delude themselves that officials will just do their jobs and comply with the constitution without any supervision on their part, they will have tyranny. That's not just a risk. It is a certainty. The only question is how long it will take, and it probably won't be very long. No modern society can maintain liberty, and the constitutional government needed to protect it, without devoting at least ten hours a week to doing their civic duties. Anything less and some day goons will come for you, take all your stuff, lock you up, and perhaps rape and kill you and your family. There is no escape, no place to hide. Forget about being able to spend your leisure time entertaining yourself. Leisure and liberty are incompatible. Freedom takes work, a lot of work. Every day. And in concert with other citizens, not by yourself, sitting at a computer, sending email messages. The Universe is not a playground for your amusement. It is not some giant buffet. It is not organized for your comfort and convenience. It doesn't care about you, or whether you are prosperous, safe, or free. If you are very lucky you might be able to survive long enough to reproduce, but if you experience anything more than unrelenting misery, you are lucky and your luck probably won't last. Right now we are in a highly exceptional period in history. It won't last. The normal state is kill or be killed, and it is only a matter of time before we revert to that. -- Jon ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001 www.constitution. org [EMAIL PROTECTED] tion.org ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
