Back to Basics in America

Back to Basics in America

Independent American Party

OUR FOUNDING FATHERS gave us a Constitutional
Republic. Because of them, we were born free. Nevertheless, we could
die slaves because we have lost sight of basic truths.

1. Freedom cannot exist without morality. The phrase
immoral free men makes no more sense than dry water. Unless we have
sufficient character and moral fortitude, we will not be able to
govern ourselves.

When morality declines, the abuse of rights increases
and more government is necessary. Just as criminals need jailers
and domesticated animals need herdsmen, an immoral citizenry needs
a police state. If we ever abandon our morality and adopt instead
the law of the jungle, we will lose our freedom.

2. Ignorant and free can never be. In order to
be capable of self-government, we must not only be moral but informed.
If we are not informed, we will tend to vote for the politician
who promises the most. We will vote for more and bigger government
until one day we have total government.

An uninformed electorate, whether moral or immoral,
will vote itself into slavery. Only a moral, well-informed electorate
will vote for men of principle who will limit government to its
proper role.

3. Our rights come from God. When God created man,
He gave him certain inalienable rights. Because rights existed prior
to men joining together to form governments, the purpose of government
is only to protect these rights. It cannot be to grant us rights
that we already have. Nor can it be to legislate out of existence
rights that are inalienable.

Our form of government is based on this fundamental
truth. If we ever abandon it, we will lose our form of government.

4. The essence of freedom is the limitation of
government. Because men are not angels, some government is necessary
to secure our God-given rights. Because government officials are
men, the powers of government must be strictly limited and constantly
held in check.

The U.S. Constitution limits the powers of the
Federal Government. Nonetheless, much that the Federal Government
does today is unconstitutional. We have allowed this abuse of authority
to occur because we have forgotten basic truths. We will preserve
our freedom for future generations only if we recall the wisdom
of our fathers and get back to basics!

A Government Of Laws - Or Of Men?

BECAUSE MEN CREATED governments (and not vice versa), the rights
of government are based on the God-given rights of the individual.
An individual has the right to defend his life, liberty, and property;
therefore, he also has the right to join with others and form a
government to protect his rights. An individual does not have the
right to violate the rights of another, and neither does government.

Government should be large enough to secure our
God-given rights but not large enough to violate these rights. Anyone
who understands this comprehends the proper role of government.

If there were no government whatsoever, our rights
would not be secure. Individuals acting alone would be unable to
protect their liberty against the criminal acts of unjust men. In
the absence of any organized government, anarchy would prevail.
Ultimately, the criminals would take control and enslave their fellow
citizens.

Our rights also would not be secure under a system
of total governmental control. Such a government might grant its
citizens privileges from time to time, but it could also take away
those privileges on a whim. Whenever government has total power,
individuals have none. Remember, the root of the word totalitarian
is total!

Communism and Nazism are not at opposite ends of
the political spectrum as the public has been led to believe. They
are ideological twins! Both are totalitarian, and both are examples
of 100 percent governmental control. Our rights can only be secure
under limited government. Liberty is a way station between anarchy
(no government) on one end of the political spectrum and totalitarianism
(total government) on the other end.

Preserving liberty for ourselves and future generations
is no easy task. As George Washington warned, "Government is
not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a
dangerous servant and a fearful master." Because our Founding
Fathers realized that government, like fire, had to be contained,
they gave us a government of laws and not of men. They created a
republic and not a democracy.

A democracy is majority rule and is destructive
of liberty because there is no law to prevent the majority from
trampling on individual rights. Whatever the majority says goes!
A lynch mob is an example of pure democracy in action. There is
only one dissenting vote, and that is cast by the person at the
end of the rope.

A republic is a government of law under a Constitution.
The Constitution holds the government in check and prevents the
majority (acting through their government) from violating the rights
of the individual. Under this system of government a lynch mob is
illegal. The suspected criminal cannot be denied his right to a
fair trial even if a majority of the citizenry demands otherwise.

We will either be governed by laws or ruled by
men. Because of man's nature, rule by men has always ended in tyranny.
Only under a government of laws will our God-given rights be secure.

Have You Been Deceived?

QUESTION: When the Founding Fathers established our government,
they gave us: (a) a democracy, or (b) a republic?

The question is basic, and the correct answer should
be known to every schoolchild. Nevertheless, if you have been led
to believe that our country is a democracy, you have been deceived.

Not only did our Founding Fathers establish a republic,
they greatly feared democracy. James Madison, known as the father
of the U.S. Constitution, wrote in "Essay #10" of The
Federalist Papers: "... democracies have ever been spectacles
of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible
with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general
been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their
deaths."

Although such an attitude will surprise most Americans,
it is accurate.

The United States Constitution does not contain
the word democracy. It does "guarantee to every State in this
Union a republican form of government...." Also, when we recite
the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, we say, "to the Republic
for which it stands," and not "to the Democracy."

The difference between a republic and a democracy
was once widely understood in America. The U.S. War Department (superseded
by the Department of Defense) taught that difference in a training
manual (No. 2000-25) published on November 30, 1928. This official
U.S. government document, used at the time for the training of American
military personnel, said of democracy:

- A government of the masses.

- Authority derived through mass meeting or any other form of 'direct'
expression.

- Results in mobocracy.

- Attitude toward property is communistic - negating property rights.


- Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate.


- Results in demogogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.

It went on to state: "Our Constitutional fathers, familiar
with the strength and weakness of both autocracy and democracy,
with fixed principles definitely in mind, defined a representative
republican form of government. They 'made a very marked distinction
between a republic and a democracy » » » and said
repeatedly and emphatically that they had founded a republic.' "

If you have been misled as to the type of government
we inherited, you should ask why.

Is It Constitutional?



THE UNITED STATES of America is a Constitutional Republic consisting
of the Federal Government and the state governments. It is not a
Democracy. The Federal Government operates under the specific powers
delegated to it by the United States Constitution, while each of
the state governments operates under a state constitution.

The U.S. Congress is not authorized to make any
law it chooses; it is bound by this Constitutional mandate. For
instance, the First Amendment states, "Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and
to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." And
the Tenth Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The Constitution authorizes the Federal Government
to protect our God-given rights and to provide for the common defense.
It does not authorize Fedgov to provide foreign aid handouts, unemployment
benefits, subsidized housing units, food stamps, agricultural price
supports, or other share-the-wealth schemes.

Tragically, much of the legislation that Congress
passes is unconstitutional. This abuse of authority has occurred
because we have lost sight of basic principles.

Your Congressman has taken an oath to uphold the
Constitution. Whenever a new bill comes up for a vote, he should
ask himself: Is it Constitutional? If it is unconstitutional, he
should vote against it. If he does not vote against unconstitutional
legislation, you should ask him why.