PurpleSerf.com
6/2/11
While at a campaign stop in Mason City, Iowa Ron Paul (R-Texas) admonished the crowd before him. According to Josiah Ryan of The Hill:
"'We're not on the verge of having a king, but we are on the verge of having way too much dictatorship in Washington, D.C.,' Paul said, comparing the U.S.'s current situation to a Biblical tale in which the ancient Israelites demanded, against their own good, that a king rule their land instead of God."
Paul continued on, stating "Our rights come from our creator, not our government."
The biblical tale Dr. Paul was referring to can be found in 1 Samuel 8. Regardless of your views on the Bible or whether you adhere to Christian, Jewish, or Muslim dogma/doctrine the author of these words obviously understood politics and government, this much is difficult to deny.
In ancient times Israel, having escaped from Egypt, was governed by a theocratic monarchy. Moses passed down a constitution and enshrined into law what was thereafter interpreted and executed by elders and priests. Samuel was the last of these elders to govern in large part because his successors (his sons) were found to "accept bribes and pervert justice."
Israel mistakingly believed their system had failed rather than simply admitting their leadership had betrayed their system. Instead of impeaching their leaders and retaining their constitution and decentralized familial organization their false conclusion lead them to subsequently demand a king. The command and control political models which yielded the fabulous military victories of nearby nations evidently persuaded Israel.
These autocracies appealed to a young, vulnerable, and ambitious Israel because they were able to make the quick and efficient decisions necessary to "lead [them]...and go out before [them] and fight [their] battles." While this general king, as it were, would in fact lead to glorious victories and the establishment of Israel as a powerful regional power it would also set the stage for chronic internal struggles which would plague Israel throughout the Old Testament.
What the Israelites didn't understand was that a king, unlike the theocratic constitution and its executors they were accustomed to (however flawed), would wield very different powers as God lays out in verse 9. Speaking to Samuel:
"Now listen to them (the Israelites); but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights."
God continues and warns Samuel how in 7 different ways the Israelites personal rights and liberties will be violated once they took on the arbitrary and expansive powers inherent in a king.
1. Military Conscription "He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots."
2. Military Industrial Complex "Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots."
3. Central Economic Organization "He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers."
4. Redistribution of Wealth "He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants."
5. Bureaucracy & Largesse "He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants."
6. High Taxes "[He will take] Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use."
7. High Debt & Slavery "He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves."
The wonderful thing about a constitution is that unlike leaders who are in the end human, prone to failure and corruption, a constitution remains consistent, knowable, and often times flexible, manipulated through democratic initiative or judicial interpretation. A biblical example can be found in the story of the Daughters of Zelophehad – American examples are abundant.
Human nature has changed very little over the last few thousand years, albeit our technology and cultures may. Rep. Paul contends that when nations vest most of their political power into one area of government, or into one person for that matter, history teaches us the aforementioned violations and encroachments on our liberty necessarily occur.
What is the solution to this historical tendency? "Be the change you want to see in the world" as Ghandi encouraged. Don't give up your rights and liberties in order to feel safe or to alleviate yourself of the responsibility to better the lives of those in your community. It is no doubt an intoxicating idea that the right government formula or a charismatic figure might potentially save society from its perpetual ills, but the human experience unfortunately provides no examples of this.
Freedom by contrast requires vigilance and hard work. It is therefore understandable that people would rather be told what to do in certain instances; however, this acquiescence inevitably leads to being told what to do in every instance.
When we abandon the confines set forth in the Constitution (federalism, separation and limitation of powers) in favor of expediency, when our government takes on more of the responsibility we owe to ourselves it becomes harder and harder for our culture to regain what it has given up.
I agree with Ron Paul, we are not on the verge of having one king, however, I feel he understates in this instance the fact we have too many kings (czars, heads, whatever...) already in Washington. We submit to so many of their decisions because we docilely operate under the flag of democracy when most of our laws are in fact legislated, adjudicated, and executed by faceless unelected bureaucrats.
We live in an increasingly centralized society where most look to Washington DC for answers rather than within their own communities. Washington is a den of self serving bureaucracies, self aggrandizing power brokers and entrenched interests whom shape the national dialogue, laws, and policies of our country and where the state, county, and city governments are being undermined at the expense of the family and the individual.
In reviewing the Constitution and history it is clear, we have ceded too much power to DC in order for it to fight the battles we ought to fight ourselves. It is up to us to watch over our own health, it is up to us to save for a rainy day, and it is up to us to defend ourselves against those who would do us harm. We are the generals and armies of our own lives - we should start acting like it.
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