“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” – Samuel Johnson, 1775 (To be fair, others through history have said similar things but I thought it was interesting that it was something spoken in 1775.)

As I make my way around the district, I often speak of defending the Constitution. The younger generations don’t seem to have the understanding of the significance of that document that the older generations do. Since the Constitution and the history of the founding of the United States is not a major focus, if covered at all in mainstream education, it is not too surprising that new generations are not as aware. With “progressive/liberals” in charge of our children’s education, it isn’t surprising and I’ll tell you why.

Hearing politicians complain about or marginalize the Constitution is also a common theme. “ It’s too restrictive” or “it doesn’t apply today and should be a living document” are words that you might hear. You might hear frustration when politicians attempt to infringe on citizen’s privacy. Obviously, there is a balance that must be struck between citizen’s privacy and providing for the general safety and security of the population. It is a tough balance to maintain and personally, I would rather err on the side of keeping government out of people’s personal lives.

So, instead of pointing you to a detailed text book analysis of the Constitution, I thought I would say a few words on why it is important to me personally.

To me, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are unusual documents which are the key to why the United States has been so successful. If you look around the world at all the different countries you will find many different ways for people to be organized and governed. Examples include: Marxist dictatorships, socialism, communism, monarchies, to theocracies, and others. The general idea with these forms of government is that people are given their rights to live in their country by their government. The government determines how they live and to a great extent, determines their social standing and benefits. The government or the dictator is the final authority and the expert in how you should live your life in just about every facet of your life too; sometimes the government will even try to force religions or beliefs on their people.

It is that kind of government that the founding fathers were escaping when they made their way to North America. They wanted to live their lives without having a King or a government telling them what to do or believe. They wanted to reap the rewards of their hard work and practice their religion. They also realized that some form of government was necessary to provide basic needs, such as a common defense but they never again wanted to live under repressive rule.

The United States Constitution is unique to me because, in forming the framework of our representative republic, it spells out the rights of the people. It does not give people rights, as most other governments do, it points out that human beings have basic rights given them by God, not to be stepped on by any other authority. It may sound extreme for me to say this, but it is spelled out clearly. You and me… God gave us the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not the government. And because the founding fathers had personal experience with the oppressive rule of a government, they wrote this document which serves to restrict what the government could do. They knew that eventually, if left unchecked, the government would expand and trample the rights of a free people.

So, it is not surprising to hear government officials or “progressive/liberals” complain about the Constitution because it restricts them. In fact, restraining government is exactly what I want it to do because the rights of the individual should continue to outweigh the power of the state. If we allow the Constitution to be marginalized or disregarded, we take away that basic protection of a free people. When I see the government take on roles such as running car companies, banking, finance or other industries I become concerned because a conflict of interest inevitably ensues and suddenly people find themselves with a government that is no longer by the people or for the people.

The United States Constitution is unique in human history because it limits government and upholds the God given rights of the people. It is the cornerstone that the greatness of our country was built on. And just like the cornerstone of a great building, if you start chipping away at it, eventually the whole building will crumble. Combine politicians and bureaucrats bent on expanding their power and control with a public that is not as familiar with the history of the country or the Constitution, or personal experience with oppressive regimes, and I see a recipe for trouble ahead. I see and feel this happening with the way government is expanding and growing into areas that it should not and I feel we must resist it now or eventually lose our rights as human beings, one little chip of government expansion or additional tax at a time. I believe government does have a role however; it needs to be kept in check as our founding fathers knew and warned us about. Liberals/progressives seem to be paving the road with the good intentions of an all knowing and all providing government, I’m just concerned about where the road leads.

Join the Resistance.