Technological Advancements: Are We Really Advancing?

Jerusalem, Egypt, Rome. These were three of the most abundant and advanced empires in the history of the world. However, they all met their downfall; many of them more than once. Do you remember Pompeii? This city was one of the richest of the empire of Rome. Yet, it was destroyed in a matter of hours by a nearby “mountain,” which would have never been expected to erupt. Yet even after this volcanic eruption, the people came back to the city. Why would you come back to a city of desolation? They came for their gold, their jewels, and their precious things. After coming back, these people were killed almost instantly by the pyroclastic flow of Mount Vesuvius. This story captures the image of just how reliant these people were on material possessions.
There is another nation that has been considered (and probably is) the most technologically advanced and abundant nation in the history of mankind. That nation is theUnited States of America. This nation is the greatest nation in the whole world. However, it may be safe to say that we are on our way down. Disaster may one day strike, and we will have nothing. We will suffer because of the materialism of our society. Nevertheless, our society may not be as reliant on material possessions as it is on technology.
Technology is great. The technology that we have today in America is amazing. Our society is more advanced than Rome could have ever dreamed of. We have the telephone. We can communicate with people who are thousands of miles away. We have television. We have the internet. We can watch things that are happening thousands of miles away with just the click of a mouse or the push of a button at the exact moment that those things are happening. There is so much good happening with technology. It helps the world out somuch, and there are many Americans who know how to limit their time on technology. However, technology is way too overused and abused.

In order to really advance this world, the next generation
must learn to rely less on technology

The bottom line is this: Americans are too reliant today on technology. This reliance is applicable to many forms of technology; for example, television. The New York Daily News reported in 2012 that the average American watches 34 hours of television a week. That’s almost 5 hours of TV each day. The phone is another huge problem. The Pew Research Internet Project reported that, as of January of 2014, over 90% of Americans have cell phones, and that shouldn’t be a surprising stat. Also, according to a study done by the Entertainment Software Association in 2013, 58% of Americans play video games regularly. How much more time can you waste? Americans are so reliant on technology, and they depend on it for their information, communication, and entertainment.
This reliance is especially true for the youth of today; for my generation. Everybody has their I-pods, their cell phones, and their internet access. These are great tools that could be used for so much good, but instead they are addictive. If you take a teenager’s phone away, they are not going to be happy, and they are not going to know how to function, because they spend so much time texting, browsing the internet, and playing worthless games. The worst part of all of this is that it is happening at a younger and younger age. It pains me to see six-year-olds with their touch screen phones, playing games and wasting time when they could be socially interacting with their peers and their family. A lot of parents are no help to this cause. Many of them, in fact, are quite the opposite—they give technologic devices to these kids to keep them entertained, so that they won’t be bothered and they won’t have to deal with problems that the kids have.
With this reliance on technology, there comes another problem: immorality. This is the most dangerous of all problems within a nation. Pornography is one of the biggest issues. The Department of Women’s Services and Resources at BYU reported that the pornography industry, which is driven by technology and the internet, makes over 57 billion dollars each year; 12 billion coming from the United States. 12% of the total websites on the internet are dedicated to pornography. This is a huge problem. Immorality is the single most influential factor in the downfall of an empire. This was true with Rome, Jerusalem, Egypt, and so many others. Wickedness brings natural disasters upon people. That is why Mount Vesuviuserupted: God must punish those who ignore His laws and value material possessions over His commands.
So what really matters? Once disaster strikes and technology is no longer available, what is left? The youth of today, in order to survive in times of crisis, must value more and be more reliant upon things like skills, talents, and education; things that they will always have and things that will bless others. They need to be able to find entertainment, information, and ways of communication without relying on technology. This is what matters. In order to value these things more, the youth of today need to spend less time with technology, and they need to spend more time face-to-face with other people; improving their relationships with them more than improving their relationships with their screens.
We have technology because the United States is so great. People forget why this nation is so great. We are great because God is with us, and God will not be with those who violate His laws. In order to avoid Rome, we need to limit our technology and influence others to limit their use. I’m not saying, by any means, that we must abolish our use of technology altogether. These devices can be used for so much good if we use them the right way at the right times. We just need to make sure that we are doing that. Only then can this nation continue to be the great nation that it has been throughout its history. As author Aldous Huxely once wrote, “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” We can’t let this happen.

Should It Be the Government's Job to Try to Keep People Healthy?

The majority of Americans would agree that health has value. It is also evident that what we put into our bodies affects our health; that is, food, fluids, etc. One thing is sure: many Americans are not where they should be in terms of health. Health is essential to life, so the majority of individuals would agree that health is valuable.
What is the reason for government? There are many arguments for purposes or roles of government, and one of them is definitely this: to protect its people’s unalienable (or God-given) rights.
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson was drafting the Declaration of Independence. This document would include a list of things that King George did that injured the colonies, a statement declaring independence from Great Britain, and many fundamental governmental principles that this nation was founded on. As Jefferson was writing the document’s first draft, he originally penned these words: “men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and property." This word didn’t end up in the final Declaration, but Jefferson and many others would agree that property is a fundamental God-given right. John Locke even said so.
How does the principle of the unalienable right to property apply to our bodies? Our bodies are the ultimate element of our property; one of God’s great gifts to us. God has given us freedom to do what we please with our bodies, so we should be able to decide what we put into our bodies. These are self-evident truths. The government is here to secure our rights, not to infringe upon them. The power to tell us what to put into our bodies derives not from the government, but from God. Since God has given us each agency to do what we want with our bodies, the government should not be controlling what we eat.
In John Stossel’s Fox News hour, “Myths, Lies, and Complete Stupidity,” he shows multiple examples of ways that the government is infringing on our right to choose what we eat. For example, the mayor of New York City has outlawed drinking cups 32 oz. or larger from businesses that he can control. This is outrageous! First of all, this is restraining the right of the people to partake of what they desire. This is an unalienable right that should not be taken away from any person in the land of opportunity.
Of course, just as all other rights are, this right only goes so far that it does not infringe on the rights of others. Many substances cause individuals to do things that they wouldn’t normally do without those substances. For this reason, many drugs and other substances are outlawed in theUnited States, and this is how it should be. The government has a duty to secure the rights of all of its citizens, not just the rights of a few. A right is not a right if it takes freedom away from another. The government has a duty to outlaw certain substances in order to secure the rights of the sum of its people.

Thomas Jefferson originally penned the
words, "Life, Liberty, and Property" when he
was writing the Declaration of Independence

 The second reason why the New York mayor’s plan is outrageous is this: it hardly makes a positive influence on the people that it affects. Instead of just buying one cup, people have to use two, or they must find another means to drink as much as they previously were. People still drink the same amount of fluid that they’ve always been drinking, and for this reason, this law is only a nuisance. It only makes life harder for individuals and companies.
Finally, this law is outrageous because it infringes on the rights of companies and entities that it affects. Companies should have the right to sell whatever size of substance that they think is most efficient. If that means that companies are selling ten gallon cups, let it be. Once again, government is construed to secure the rights of the people, not to tell the people how they need to live their lives.
Much has been done by the government to infringe on the rights of the people, and it is the people’s job to stop this and keep it from happening, just like the Declaration of Independence states: “…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.” We need to get this country back to the principles that it was founded on. Health is good, but freedom is better.
It is self-evident, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, that our Creator has endowed us with the unalienable right to property. It is our choice to do what we want with our property as long as we aren’t hurting others. It is okay for the government to promote health, but it is not right for the government to try to keep people healthy. And that’s a self-evident truth.

Welcome to America Farm, Comrades!

"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." George Orwell - Animal Farm

  Anybody who has read Animal Farm by George Orwell, will surely remember this statement found in the last chapter. We all remember reading those words and thinking, "More equal? How can one animal be more equal than another?" And after thinking it over for a moment or so we continued reading the book. And as we closed the book we then pondered that line again, but this time in context. We find ourselves asking, “More equal? Is it actually possible for one animal to be more equal than another?" and then the thought, "Could one group of humans be more equal than another?" Later I was reading it again, looking for the path that lead to this Unequal Equality, what I found stunned me. The government control of education, the complacent working class, and the use of a common enemy were the major things that caused Animal Farm to turn from it's vision of plenty, into the hideous Manor Farm. Those three things struck me because of their similarities to modern America.

  "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." (George Orwell, 1984), Orwell alluded to this idea in Animal Farm as the pigs would change the past to fit how they wanted the future to be. The process of changing the past was simple-control what the animals learn and you will control how they view the world, past and present. All that was required to generate those results was for the government to take control of the education. Similarly, Washington has been taking more and more ownership over our lives, especially education. The Common Core initiative, for example, is removing all local authority on education. Those in favor of the program would tell you that it is a purely optional program, state to state. But our Federal Government saw that as an opportunity to gain more control over education. After all, it's much easier to brainwash a nation when one group of bureaucrats determines what the entire nation's minds are filled with. It is scary to watch Orwell's prophecy of 1984 and the allegory of Animal Farm taking shape in our own government. The even scarier part is to see the brainwashed masses sitting idle as their government slowly but surely steals away their liberties, one pail of milk and one innocent puppy at a time.

  The key to keeping a society brainwashed is to keep them from asking questions. That way, when Napoleon comes in the night and steals the milk to put in the pigs mash nobody asks, or even wonders. If they do ask questions about it, Squealer quickly has a press conference to clear up the matter, dismissing all suspicion. And because pigs control the way people think, that is accepted as the sure truth. Likewise, when a bunch of cronies on Wall Street need help because of their errors, and people start asking questions (as we saw with Occupy Wall Street) the government stands up and blames the Economy. Because we don't think anymore, everyone accepts that as the sure truth. Back in Animal Farm we see the animals doing what they're told, because the pigs know better than everyone else. Comparing this to America, we've seen our Nation forming an Aristocracy, and because the politicians are so much smarter than we are, we neglect our responsibility to control them, and they run rampant. The worst example in Animal Farm is when Napoleon deceives the uneducated. He blamed everything and anything that went wrong, on the infamous terrorist, Snowball!

  In 2001 several hijacked planes shook the way we see the world. The terrorists were at fault then and the "terrorists" are at fault for most everything now. Back at the farm, the sudden destruction of the windmill was deemed Snowball's fault, and then "Snowball" was blamed for just about everything else. Now, I am not saying that 9/11 was not the terrorists fault, nor am I saying that many other things are not their fault. But I am saying that in both America and in Animal Farm the current leaders, Bush and Napoleon, used their common enemies to their advantage. Napoleon immediately heightened security, and cracked down on all those who may have been in league with Snowball. He used this increase of security to cover and justify many very un-Animalist actions. In striking similarity, Bush heightened out national security with the Patriot Act. That security has not been used as we were told it was intended to be, and has been used more to spy on and keep it's own citizens in line than anything else. Since then our government has done even more un-Constitutional things in the name of security and to protect us from "the terrorists". We only have to look to Orwell to see what we are to expect to come from that.

  Orwell had vision. He understood the natural human mind, and did us all a favor by writing a fairy-story to show not only what had happened in the past, but what would surely happen again if we are not careful. Because of our lack to maintain local control of education, there is a sharp decrease in our nations thinking and questioning ability. As a result our nation has become more complacent and stupid than ever before. Now our government is using our common enemy the "terrorists" to pave the way for our demise.Comrades, even as we speak, our government is becoming more equal than the rest of us. Washington has moved into the Manor and the Presidency is putting on Mr. Jones' clothes.

Kansas House Bill 2453

Is Kansas House Bill 2453 a good policy? Why have so many states considered legislation similar to it?

        If a murderer came up to you and asked you for money so that he could go kill somebody, would you give him the money? Of course not! Would it be right for the government to have power to force you to give them money? No!

        This is obviously a very extreme example, but the same principle applies to Kansas House Bill 2453. This bill would allow businesses to refuse service to a people because they are gay or lesbian. Is this bill a good policy? It may not seem like one, but let me give you the whole story first.

        Kansas House Bill 2453 is meant to protect the religious freedom of businesses, business owners, and employees. It states that no business or person will be forced to serve another. I think that the biggest problem with this bill not being passed is the people being denied their rights. One of the most basic unalienable rights that each person is endowed with is the liberty of conscience or religion. You have a right to choose right (or wrong). You have a right to refrain from doing wrong. Included in this right is the right to refrain from supporting others in their wrong decisions, because to many people, supporting someone else in doing wrong is doing wrong.

This right is the most important right to mankind. This agency to choose right or wrong was endowed to each person by their Creator, and it cannot be taken away by any man. However, just like any other right, this right can only go so far as to not infringe upon the rights of others. You can choose wrong, but if you’re hurting someone else by choosing wrong, then that person’s right to choose right is being infringed upon. Gay marriage is wrong. That is truth. The Bible says it, and God has declared it from the creation of the world. Adam and Eve were not Adam and Steve. People can be gay if they want, but they can’t be infringing on other people’s rights by being gay. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate what I am trying to say.

The LA Times reported in 2014 that a New Mexico photography company was fined thousands of dollars for “discriminating” when they refused to shoot a lesbian wedding.[1] This is absurd! Any reasonable person can surely see that. Keep in mind that these are private businesses. Private businesses should be able to serve whoever they desire, and they should be able to refuse service to any person that they want. The government should not regulate that.

The biggest problem here is the ignorance of Americans on what is morally right

Another instance of this happened in December of 2013 when ABC News reported[2]that an administrative law judge ruled that a Colorado baker that refused to make a cake for a gay couple (a cake that would not have manikins of a man and a woman on the top, but manikins of a man and a man) broke the law, and would have to face fines for refusing these gays. Yet another instance of this happened in Oregon, when a bakery was forced to relocate because it refused to serve a lesbian couple.[3]

Come on, really? This is just ridiculous. The blame for this problem needs to go to the ignorance of Americans. Kansas House Bill 2453 never passed. It was shot down by the Kansas Senate. However, many other states have considered legislation similar to it. Why is this even important? To tell you the truth, I can’t thing of a more significant subject to discuss. Many people in this world view choosing the right and exercising their right to conscience or religion more important than their very lives. If our lives aren’t important, then tell me something that is. This subject is soimportant.

That is the very reason why so many other states have considered legislation similar to this one. CNN reported in 2014 that seven other states—Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Mississippi,Oklahoma, Idaho, and Arizona, respectively—have considered legislation similar to Kansas House Bill 2453.[4] However, none of these considerations have done anything. No other bills with this same policy have been passed save one, and that bill came from Arizona.

This bill that was passed in Arizona would allow businesses to discriminate against virtually anybody from gays to red t-shirt wearers. This may seem extreme, but really, a business should be able to serve and refrain from serving whoever they desire. If you own your own business, you should be able to refrain from serving people with red t-shirts if you so desire. I don’t see why you would want to do that, but you should be able to. Even the Arizona bill, though, never went into effect because of the ignorance of politicians. The governor of Arizona vetoed the bill shortly after it was passed, saying that it was “poorly worded, and could result in unintended and negative consequences.”[5]Unbelievable.

This policy has been considered by so many other states because it is such an issue right now. There are a lot more gays and lesbians right now in the world because of the wickedness of the world right now and the influence of wrong. This is a corrupt world. Also, many circumstances have taken place to get people interested in this topic. Some examples of this have already been mentioned, but there are more. Consider Utah, for example. Just recently, a federal judge came in and overturned amendment 3 of the Utah Constitution, which states that marriage shall be defined as between a man and a woman. This appeal is currently on hold, so it is up in the air right now. People are picking sides, and many are choosing the side that is morally incorrect.

How can we fix this problem? So much of this country has already been led astray. Is it even possible to eliminate the problem? Perhaps not fully, but we can do something, just like so many people before us have. We need to fight for our rights and defend our religious freedom, not physically, but through our words and our ideas. We need a revolution; not a bloody one but one of thoughts and ideas.

---

[1] Paresh, Dave. “What's behind Arizona plan to let businesses refuse to serve gays?” LA Times.February 22, 2014. <http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/22/nation/la-na-nn-arizona-gays-sb-1062-20140222#ixzz2uHqip2nH>

[2] Fields, Liz. “Judge Orders Colorado Bakery to Cater for Same-Sex Weddings.” ABC News.December 7, 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-orders-colorado-bakery-cater-sex-weddings/story?id=21136505>

[3] Hallowell, Billy. “Baker Who Lost Shop After Refusing Gay Couple’s Wedding Cake Has Surprise Reaction to Ongoing Attacks: ‘My Eternal Home Is What Matters’.” The Blaze. September 5, 2013. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/05/burn-in-hell-you-racist-pigs-christian-baker-who-refused-to-make-lesbian-couples-wedding-cake-details-creepy-alleged-break-in-ongoing-challenges/>

[4] Whitaker, Matthew C. “Arizona's shameful 'right to discriminate' bill.” CNN News. February 22, 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/opinion/whitaker-arizona-law/>

[5] Serwer, Adam. “States fight to push anti-gay bills. But will they pass?” MSN News. February 20, 2014. <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/states-push-anti-gay-bills-will-they-pass>

What Kids Need, and What the Government Gives Them

I believe that this country is headed for collapse. I also believe that we can save it. The education system is what is ripping us apart. You can trace almost any problem in our modern day society back the our corrupt schooling system. We need to change the public schooling system in order to turn our world around. We can fix this! If we can manage it our country will return to it’s former glory in just a few generations.

When was the last time you had control over what was taught at school? What is taught to the future of America! We are in a position where, if not stopped, it will take us down a path to tyranny and slavery. This is explained very clearly by the following statistics:

• 3,030,000 Students drop out of high school every year
• In the 50 largest cities in America 59% of students drop out of high school
• 75% of crimes in the US are committed by high school dropouts

This does not look like a system that works. The problems in this society obviously have been flowing from the public schooling systems. Where children are taught what is, and isn’t true.

Where do the majority of American children learn “Truth” from? The public schooling system. But the problem is that the government controls this method, because of the separation of church and state, and because of outspoken minorities, God and religion are taken out of the equation. What does this result in? Easily moldable children being taught that “truth” is whatever the government deems to be “politically correct”. This is not right. This is not freedom. People with power want to keep their power (see D&C 121:39). This is one of the reasons that our country is failing. Truth has been replaced by political correctness and standardized testings. The youth of today are our future, and the government of today is taking away their knowledge of truth. They are denying us of our truth!

And we know that the violation (or denial) of truth brings less freedom.

Our country, the one that stands for freedom and justice, is destroying itself in the name of freedom! We are already experiencing the problems as the last generation has reached adulthood and too many are still completely reliant on the government for money, food, clothing, and housing. To fix this we need to do away with the “No Child Left Behind” Program, the new common core program, standardized testing, and federal control of the schooling program. We need to move the responsibility of public education  back to the states where it belongs. These are the steps that need to happen in order to bring back our glory.

The lack of truth in our schooling system and reliance on the government has caused our country to enter the state it is in now. Our country is headed for collapse. The many reasons for this can be brought back to the public schools. This is fixable, but it will require a huge change to the modern schooling system.

An In-Depth Look at the Constitution: The Executive Branch

            In 1787, our founding fathers drafted the Constitution of the United States—our foundation and governing document in this country. This Constitution is the reason that we have the freedoms that we have today, and the reason that our government isn’t as oppressive as it could be. However, this Constitution has been torn apart. Amendments, unconstitutional laws, and unconstitutional court rulings have plagued this nation, and, just like the Declaration of Independence says, it is our responsibility to get back to the Constitution and back to good government: “…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

            One of the key elements to the Constitution was the idea of three branches of government: the legislative branch (Congress), the judicial branch (the courts), and the executive branch (the President and his cabinet). One of the most genius ideas that is found in the Constitution is the idea that these branches could check each other and balance each other out so that one branch would not become so powerful as to abuse the power given to it. The Constitution set up checks and balances to ensure that this would happen. However, conspiring men have found ways to alter and abolish these checks and these balances for their own profit and power.

            The branch of the Constitution that I’m going to be talking about today is the executive branch. This branch of government mainly consists of the President of the United States and his cabinet, and everything about the executive branch is found in Article II of the Constitution.

            Let’s begin with the process of election for the President and Vice President of the United States. In Section I of Article II of the Constitution, this process of election is laid out. The states each appoint a number of electors based on the number of Congressmen and Senators that the given state currently has in office. These electors are the ones who choose the President and Vice President. An elector must be an honorable person that is not holding any office under the United States. These electors must also be strictly anonymous; for fear that their votes could be influenced by others. On a date and time chosen by Congress, the electors meet in their respective states and vote for two people: one president and one vice president. They then send their votes to the Senate, and the votes are counted. A president and vice president are then chosen. The twelfth amendment made miniscule changes to this process, but for the most part, the fundamental format of the election process stayed the same.

            Electors were originally designated so that conspiring men would not deceive the majority of the people. However, look at America today. The Electoral College still chooses the president, but did you watch the last election? All people care about is the popular vote, which shouldn’t even matter. The vast majority of states in the United States today have laws that govern what electors do and who they vote for. Most states have laws that say that their electors must vote for the person that the majority of the people vote for, and as a result of this, many conspiring men have been elected to office (just look at our president today). This is just one of many of the checks and balances that have been demolished by unconstitutional laws.

            Next, the Constitution covers the qualifications of a president. All of these qualifications are found in Section I of Article II, and all of these qualifications apply to the Vice President of the United States (because he becomes president if the President is unable to execute his office). Here are the qualifications:

• Must be a natural born citizen of the United States
• Must be at least 35 years old
• Must have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years

            In Article II, Section II of the original Constitution, a list of powers given to the President of the United States was created:

• To serve as commander-in-chief of the army and navy in times of war
• To grant pardons and reprieves for offences against the United States
• To fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate

            The President was also given a list of powers that are meant to be given him under the advice and consent of the Senate:

• To make treaties
• To nominate and appoint ambassadors or other public ministers and consuls
• To appoint the judges of the Supreme Court
• To appoint all other officers of the United States that are not mentioned in the Constitution and created by law

            In the Constitution, it specifically talks about how these powers are given to the President under the Senate. If they desired, the Senate could easily stop the President from appointing any offices of the United States. However, look at today’s United States. The Senate is vastly Democratic, and they are totally on the side of the President of the United States. Their agenda is very similar to his. Why would they want to take away his power?

            In Section III of Article II of the Constitution, a final list of powers and duties is given to the President of the United States:

• To inform Congress from time to time on the State of the Union
• To recommend legislation or action that the Congress may take
• To convene in either or both houses of Congress
• To adjourn Congress in case of disagreement
• To receive ambassadors and public ministers
• To take care that all laws be faithfully executed
• To commission all the officers of the United States

             If you did not watch the President’s 2014 State of the Union Address, I would encourage you to go watch it. It is very eye opening to see what President Obama is doing to usurp and abuse his power. After the preamble, the first phrase of the Constitution states: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…” Notice how all legislative powers are given to Congress, not to the President. The President can only recommend that Congress do something. He cannot and should not make laws, yet he does. The President has abused his power to put executive orders into action. One of the President’s first powers mentioned in Article II is the power to serve as commander-in-chief of the army and navy in times of war.

            The Founders created the commander-in-chief position so that the President could act in times of emergency. This included the power to create executive orders, but this power has been utterly abused. The President now feels that he has all power. He feels like he can do whatever he wants; that he can make laws whenever he desires. The executive branch of the United States was originally designed to be limited, but our president is currently pushing past that and creating laws, which is severely unconstitutional. Go watch the 2014 State of the Union Address. Barack Obama basically says that he would like to work with Congress, but he says that if they don’t cooperate, he will take matters into his own hands and do it himself. It is our right and duty as the people of the United States to stop this from happening.

            America is wicked. The people of America are becoming increasingly more ignorant and immoral as each minute passes. America’s government is oppressive. Many of America’s laws are unconstitutional. America is trillions of dollars into debt. We have a President and a Congress consisting of power-seeking corrupters of government. America has countless problems right now. All hope seems lost.

            The only way back to what America once was is through the Constitution. We need to get back to this divine document. It was designed to limit the powers of our government. We need to stop Barack Obama. We need to stop Congress. We need to stop the Supreme Court. We need to stop unconstitutional law. We need to stop giving in to this death, desolation, and tyranny in these states. It is our right; it is our duty, to throw off our oppressive government and to get back to the principles that made us a nation. We must become a more perfect union. We must get back to the Constitution.

Constitutional Powers: What happened to the 25?

"What powers does the government have under the Constitution?" 

   When we first see this question we may think of the many fingers of government that have reached into ever facet of our lives. If you thought of those thousands of "powers" being exercised by our government, I commend you, at least you know what is going on in America. But you're wrong. There're only 25 powers even implied in the original Constitution. This is a drastic difference from what we see today. What powers was the government given originally? How have those changed? What happened to cause those changes? Our government has reached far beyond it's bounds, and as a result, we are losing our freedoms. 

   Initially, our government was very limited. They were only given 25 powers, some of which are only implied and may not have been purposefully included. To counter that already minimal list, there also placed nine regulations upon them. When we look into our governmental processes it can be difficult to imagine what these powers may have been. 

1. To lay and collect import duties.
2. To pay the debts of the U.S. Government.
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and Indian Tribes.
4. To regulate commerce among the States.
5. To regulate immigration.
6. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization.
7. To establish uniform laws on bankruptcy throughout the United States.
8. To coin money and regulate its value and that of foreign coin, and to issue bills of credit.
9. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
10. To fix the standard of weights and measures.
11. To provide and regulate postal services.
12. To establish protection for intellectual property, including patent, copyright, and trademark rights.
13. To constitute lower national courts.
14. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations.
15. To declare war, authorize warlike activities by other than the armed forces, and make rules concerning captures.
16. To raise, support and regulate the armed forces.
17. To govern what part of the Militia shall be employed in the service of the United States.
18. To exercise general Legislation over federal ground, which is limited to federal territories and districts, land purchased from states with the consent of their legislatures, U.S. flag vessels on the high seas, and the grounds of U.S. embassies abroad.
19. To guarantee a republican form of government to the States.
20. To enter into a treaty, alliance, or confederation with a foreign state.
21. To declare the punishment for treason.
22. To prescribe the manner in which the acts, records, and judicial proceedings of each state shall be proved to other states and what should be done about them.
23. To admit new states into the Union.
24. To dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.
25. To make laws necessary and proper for executing the powers delegated to the U.S. government.

These are the basic necessities of a good, sound, strong government. A government needs to be kept to it's bounds, or it will grow and, in the end, will turn on it's creators and consume their freedom. 

   To help to stop the government from consolidating itself and expanding, consequentially becoming a more tyrannical one, the founders placed restrictions on what the national government could do. 

1. No exercise of powers not delegated to it by the Constitution.
2. No payment from the Treasury except under appropriations made by law.
3. Excises and duties must be uniform throughout the United States.
4. [The government] Shall pass no tax or duty on articles exported from any state.
5. No appointment of a senator or representative to any civil office which was created while he was a member of Congress or for which the amount of compensation was increased during that period.
6. No preferences to the ports of one state over another in regulation or tax collection.
7. No titles of nobility shall be granted by the U.S. government, or permitted to be granted to government officials by foreign states.
8. [The government] May not protect a State against domestic violence without the request of its legislature, unless it cannot be convened, in which case, without the consent of its executive.
9. U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over suits against a state by citizens of another state or foreign country.

There are other negatives on the power of government, but they can be boiled down to these nine. As we look at both of these lists we see first, that this government is far larger than it was ever meant to be, and second, that the government has directly violated the Constitution many times. As a result of those changes, we are seeing an ever more tyrannical government. 

   The changes that plague our nation are countless. One need only hunt down a list of bills being processed to see how terrible the plague really is. We see laws regulating and over regulating business. We watch as taxes are taken from us at ever greater amounts; by a government that isn't even allowed to tax you directly. We tremble in fear of massive laws that no human being has ever read that drastically change our very lifestyle. And among many other things, we now have a president that has publicly told us that he intends to use executive action (not a power given by the government) to move his socialist agenda along, with or without the consent of the congress. 

   These are just a few of the countless things that our government is doing that overreach their constitutional bounds. But what are some of the major events that rocked those foundations? Over the four major waves that have hit America, the waves have crushed our freedoms, and opened large rifts that allowed the government to overstep it's bounds. 

   The first "wave" came from 1803 to 1824. During this wave, the Judicial Branch ruled that they had power to determine the Constitutionality of any and all laws. This is second nature to us now, but the implications of that ruling are exponential in allowing the government to overstep it's rules. In allowing the government to decide what the government could do, it basically negates the Constitution entirely. The only thing that was really kept the Constitution alive was the check and balances of government. That kept itself from overreaching and throwing off the Constitution.

   The second wave hit just after the Civil War. In the aftermath of such a horrific event, the government vastly overstepped it's bounds. Though, I find that many of the decisions were good, they were went about in the wrong way. From this point on, everyone accepted that the government was the power, not the states. This was not very wrong at the time, but it opened the door wide for the next wave.

   The third came in and around the year 1913. The 17th Amendment was passed. This took away one of the biggest protections of the Constitution, ever. This was the states appointing the Senators. The door that was opened by Lincoln now took the power from the states. 

   The fourth started in 2008 with the Wall Street fiasco and huge government bailouts. Following that we saw many things explicitly outlined in the Constitution being violated. Ex post facto laws have been passed left and right. Bills of Attainder are also. Everything is in chaos.

   Everything we've seen so far has shown how our government has corrupted the Constitution. It is sickening to think about all the breaches that have happened. And it makes us wonder, as we look at all the freedoms and rights we have lost, and are losing, if they have taken those things away, can they not take away more? Can they keep expanding? This requires a call to action. Will we stand for our rights? There are specific things we need to approach as a nation. The biggest thing we can do now is push the congress to repeal the 17th. This is the first step. Once we do that, we can start bringing power back to the States and take power from the President. We need to do that. 

   The Constitution in an inspired document. It is the standard by which our government should abide. It is not. As a result we have lost, and our losing many freedoms. We need to promote change. If we can shift the power center back to the states, we can have a rebirth of freedom. If we do not stand for our liberties and for our Constitution, we will be forced to kneel to the government that was once our own. The time is near. We have a decision to make. I echo the admonition made by our beloved president George Washington, "The time is near at hard which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves". This stands as true today as it was at the time of the revolution. Will we stand 4 the Constitution?