Clone Despot Cagematch:
George III vs George III
by
Stefan Molyneux
by Stefan Molyneux
If
the Declaration of Independence were written today…
In June of
1776, when Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he
took great pains to detail the abuses heaped upon the Colonists
by George III, then King of England.
Now we have
another "George III," the third President to bear that
name. How do the abuses the original George III was charged with
compare with our current administrations?
HE has refused
his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public
Good.
George III
has invaded Iraq without a Congressional declaration of war, and
has suspended the Geneva conventions for "enemy combatants."
Violations of signed treaties include the UN Charter, the International
Court of Justice, the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic
Missile Systems, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons and so on.
HE has forbidden
his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance,
unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained;
and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
George III
has used Federal Marshals to interdict against Marijuana users in
California (where, as a state, the substance is legal as a medicinal
drug). Then there’s the needle exchange plans many large cities
wanted to implement, that was blocked by George III. After the Terri
Schiavo case had been heard by 19 judges in six courts and been
appealed to the Supreme Court three times, the Fed intervened. State-level
decisions on euthanasia, minimum wages, medical insurance, food
contamination and warning labels, financial privacy laws. The Federal
government regularly uses the blackmail of the federal income tax
to "force" states into adhering to all sorts of Federal
regulations – the speed limit, the education standards, OSHA regulations,
and on and on.
Last but not
least, you might just remember the obscure Fed-influenced Supreme
Court decision to overturn Florida’s court-ordered vote recount
in 2000.
HE has refused
to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People,
unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation
in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable
to Tyrants only.
The U.S. Constitution
applies to Guam, as do all federal laws, but Guamanians have no
voting representation in the Electoral College for the selection
of the President, and no U.S. senators. Guam is represented in Washington
by one non-voting congressman in the House of Representatives. Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands both have diminished representation
in Congress. And how much does the average Iraqi’s vote count for
anyway?
HE has called
together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and
distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole
Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
If you are
willing to brave the violence of Washington, you can go and visit
the White House and Congress. Just keep your voice to a murmur.
And if you want to trail George III around the world to his various
tight-security conferences, you’d better have some frequent-flyer
miles.
HE has dissolved
Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness
his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
George III
claims the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since
he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any
statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation
of the Constitution. The "Decider" can now directly bypass
military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements
that Congress be told about immigration services problems, "whistle-blower"
protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against
political interference in federally funded research.
Bush is also
fast becoming the grand master of "States Secret Privilege"
– it was invoked only four times in the first 23 years after the
U.S. Supreme Court created the privilege in 1953, but now the government
is claiming the privilege to dismiss lawsuits at a rate of more
than three a year. Some of the targets include a lawsuit striving
to penetrate the fog of secrecy regarding "torture extraditions"
and a post-9/11 investigation.
HE has refused
for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be
elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation,
have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State
remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion
from without, and the Convulsions within.
If the danger
that Jefferson was most concerned with was civil revolt, or foreign
attack, then surely by shipping hundreds of thousands of troops
overseas, and provoking a rather excitable Muslim population, George
III has "exposed" the US to both external attacks and
internal convulsions.
HE has endeavoured
to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing
the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others
to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions
of new Appropriations of Lands.
Well let’s
see… You are soon going to need a passport to get into the US from
Canada, the Mexican border swarms with guards, and the process of
getting a Green Card has become about one chicken entrail away from
pure voodoo.
HE has obstructed
the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for
establishing Judiciary Powers.
Not only has
George III said that the Constitution is "just a goddamned
piece of paper!" but he also appointed the freedom-loving Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales – who, while still White House counsel,
wrote that the "Constitution is an outdated document."
HE has made
Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices,
and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
Well judicial
appointments come straight from the White House, and we are not
exactly facing a buffalo stampede of independent judgment here.
HE has erected
a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to
harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
Gosh, where
do we even begin? The Department of Homeland Security, the
Patriot Act, the new drug prescription program, the expanded war
on drugs, and deficits that will swallow future generations whole.
HE has kept
among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent
of our Legislatures.
Fortunately
for this point – but not fortunately for us – George III has sent
a good deal of our standing armies overseas. Yay, I feel safer already.
HE has affected
to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil
Power.
I think that
this has, by now, become a bit more than an affectation! George
III has declared that he alone will decide on when – or whether
– to inform Congress about how the FBI is implementing its expanded
powers in the new Patriot Act. His "guiding compass" is
the "unitary executive" power of the commander in chief
– thus neatly avoiding his oath to abide by the Constitutional separation
of powers.
HE has combined
with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution,
and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts
of pretended Legislation:
Does anyone
really take the Constitution seriously any more? What with the Israeli
lobby the Saudi hand-holding, and the Middle East nation building,
it’s hard to imagine that US electors really have the ear of the
president these says.
FOR quartering
large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;
Don’t bother
checking your basement for Marines – just check your personal bill
for national defense – or, more accurately, foreign offense.
Oh wait, that cost is actually going to your children, who can’t
vote. "No taxation without representation?" Right.
FOR protecting
them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they
should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
Abu Ghraib,
Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Iran, Panama, Haiti,
the War on Drugs et al. Note that Jefferson was not attacking
the "rank and file" British soldiers – he went straight
for the leader, King George III. Under our George III, the
rank and file go to jail; the leaders are rewarded.
FOR cutting
off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
The Federal
Registry currently lists hundreds of thousands of statutes controlling
foreign trade. U.S. import tariffs on clothes and shoes average
11 percent and go as high as 48 percent. (In 2001, clothes and shoes
accounted for only 6.5 percent of US imports, but contributed nearly
half of the $20 billion of tariff revenues!) In the first three
years of his presidency, George III punished foreign companies 25
times for "anti-dumping" violations – i.e. they were punished
for selling goods too cheaply, a crime that enrages consumers no
end! Add to that the 2003 imposition of 8–30% tariffs on foreign
steel imports (ruled illegal by the WTO), and the general trade
problems created by a weakening US dollar, and I think the Jeffersonian
arrow hits this particular bulls-eye square on!
FOR imposing
Taxes on us without our Consent:
There wasn’t
even an income tax in Jefferson’s day! If we could resurrect
ole Tommy J and show him the current US tax code, his head would
surely explode.
FOR depriving
us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
Well, we have
the Patriot Act, and Gitmo, and all the gulags in Iraq. George III
doesn’t even need a court order for wiretapping any more. Search
warrant? Yawn – how passé!
FOR transporting
us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
George III
is very keen on "torture express" airplanes which regularly
ferry victims to allies with more, ahem, flexible legal systems.
These cases of "extraordinary rendition" are even worse
than what Jefferson describes, since few of these victims end up
being tried at all. Why bother, when you can go straight to torture?
FOR abolishing
the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing
therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so
as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing
the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:
Iraq. ‘Nuff
said… A whole other article could be written about how Jefferson’s
objections to arbitrary despotism apply to the average Iraqi’s view
of the US occupation.
FOR taking
away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
This process
has been occurring ever since the early 20th century
in America, but George III has sped it up just a notch! The Patriot
Act, extraordinary renditions, the scorn for the Constitution, the
abandoning of the Geneva Convention, the unilateral breaking of
international treaties, growing disdain for property rights and
the separation of church and state etc. etc. etc.
FOR suspending
our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power
to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
Sadly, our
own Legislatures have not been suspended, but feel quite comfortable
passing laws affecting a single high-profile individual, such as
Terri Schiavo. Going to war without a Congressional declaration
might just qualify in this area though.
HE has abdicated
Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging
War against us.
More than 2
million Americans are incarcerated in the vile and overcrowded "rape
rooms" of government jails. Deficits and national debt are
at all-time highs. And if you think the government is not interested
in "waging war" against you, try to stop paying your taxes!
And let’s not forget the wire-tapping, the no-fly lists, the profiling,
and all the lying…
HE has plundered
our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the
Lives of our People.
Those in New
Orleans might have something to say about this, as would those trapped
in the welfare state, the mind-numbing state educational system,
and the non-violent offenders entombed in the dungeons of state
prisons.
HE is, at
this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat
the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized
Nation.
True enough,
except the mercenaries are going overseas, rather than being deployed
at home. So far, at least…
HE has constrained
our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms
against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends
and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
No draft yet,
although it would be interesting to see how many people would pay
for the War on Terror if they got a monthly bill for their personal
share of the expenses. And if you talk to a new recruit, ask him
how accurate a story he got about his obligations before signing
up…
HE has excited
domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring
on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages,
whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction,
of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
No particular
problems here, although the treatment of the Native Americans by
the Federal government continues to be horrendous.
IN every
stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the
most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only
by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of
a free People.
Petition for
redress? Perhaps if your house is seized through Eminent Domain,
or through Asset Forfeiture, you can get it back with an apology
and something to sweeten the pot. Good luck with that. Let us know
how it works out.
The Colonists
underwent terrible struggles to throw off the yoke of George III’s
oppressive tyranny – and it took less than a century for Lincoln
to undo most of what had been achieved, and less than another century
for America to turn into just another colonial warlord nation. The
fundamental problem is neither George, but rather the state itself.
It is for this
reason that we anarchists keep saying that government is an evil
that can at best be only temporarily restrained. It is at best a
dangerous servant inevitably becoming a terrible master. Power corrupts.
There are no exceptions.
Every generation
faces an age-old tyranny that must be overcome. Previous generations
successfully ended slavery, reversed the subjugation of women and
children, broke the unity of church and state, extended both property
rights and the rule of law, and began the process of restraining
government power.
Now it is our
turn. As unimaginable and unprecedented as the extensions of human
freedoms have been in the past, we are not done yet!
Now, instead
of striving to cure the state of its corruption, we aim for
prevention, which is the dismantling of the state itself,
so that its power can no longer tempt and destroy the souls of men.
Naturally, this is a shocking idea to many, but there is no reason
to be alarmed. Once, slavery had lasted as long as mankind, and
ending it was almost unthinkable. The state is not a law
of nature, but an invention of mankind, and its legitimacy – the
only source of its power – can vanish in a flash of honest thought.
 (I
would like to thank Greg Gauthier and other members of the Freedomain
Radio Board that helped me pull together references for this article.)
July
12, 2006
Stefan
Molyneux [send him mail]
has been an actor, comedian, gold-panner, graduate student, and
software entrepreneur. His first novel, Revolutions
was published in 2004, and he maintains a
blog. Listen to his podcast, which you can get by clicking here
– or, you like iTunes better, you can click here.
For more on DROs, please see
my archives. He is host of Freedomain
Radio.
Copyright
© 2006 LewRockwell.com
Stefan
Molyneux Archives
|
