'Honey… It’s President Ron Paul – and It’s For You!'

Flash Forward… It’s January 21, 2009. Your phone rings. Your significant spouse of the opposite sex gets the call and tells you President Ron Paul is on the phone, and he wants to speak with You.

After the pleasant greeting you would expect from the victorious candidate you supported from the moment you knew of his campaign, he drops the bomb: He wants you to perform the duties of X in his new administration. He expects a Major Exodus from Washington and he is looking for qualified people to fill the few positions that will remain; those very few that are authorized by the Constitution.

The transition has begun. Many "non-essential government workers" are already headed for early retirement, rehabilitation, or Club Fed. Illegal aliens are flooding across the border like Lemmings – and in the right direction.

You are to become the new Czar of De-Czaring the US Government. But President Ron Paul could never have a "Czar" in his administration. Therefore one of your first jobs is to come up with a name for your position that comports with Constitutionally Delegated Authority.

Traffic moves briskly around the DC Beltway now. What with all the lobbyists having left town weeks ago there is less "Suspicious Activity" to report. Real estate prices in the surrounding communities are beginning to decline to match the rest of the country. It’s now possible to get an English speaking cab driver.

The country is changing – and you are to be charged with the responsibility of paring the government down to its lawful size. Most foreign embassies are scaling back as well, as foreign aid is set to be cut off completely, forever – to be replaced by the blessings of unhampered robust international commerce. The Seat of Government is beginning to look like an American place.

As our government grew and grew over time – it evolved into a Behemoth – or perhaps a Chimera. Now it will be returned to its lawful size and place [read "jurisdiction"]. As Jefferson said, "In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Let the Binding Begin!

Jefferson’s admonition for revolution every twenty years was not naïve – and it was not conservative. It may be that we have become so desensitized to the essence of liberty that we won’t easily recognize the subtle ways in which sedition plants its first seeds. That’s why I am writing this article. We all have one year to get up to speed – to learn how to think American again – to remember something most of us were never taught – and certainly not by example.

What will ultimately be left for the government to do? Now you must discern – and you must be able to articulate it to others. How well are you prepared? This is a question we should all contemplate every day as we approach the inception of the Ron Paul Administration.

How do we get back to the beginning? Where is the beginning? What do we want from government? What do we expect? What are we willing to give up? What will we all gain?

The only lawful function of government is the protection of life and property. This is the starting point and the ending point. Whenever government does more than protect life and property it exceeds its lawful purpose.

We must all comprehend the seminal essence of tyranny – so we can spot it and stamp it out whenever it raises its ugly head. And it will try to return as soon as possible.

With regard to property rights Bastiat had this to say:

"But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law – which may be an isolated case – is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights. He will claim that the state is obligated to protect and encourage his particular industry; that this procedure enriches the state because the protected industry is thus able to spend more and to pay higher wages to the poor workingmen.

Do not listen to this sophistry by vested interests. The acceptance of these arguments will build legal plunder into a whole system. In fact, this has already occurred. The present-day delusion is an attempt to enrich everyone at the expense of everyone else; to make plunder universal under the pretense of organizing it."

So, according to Bastiat, and consistent with the principles of our Founding Fathers and the Framers of the Constitution, whenever "government" does something that would be a crime if it were done to an individual, by an individual, it is still a crime. This is not a difficult concept. It has just been "educated" out of most of us.

With the elimination of tyrannical laws at home and of hostile empire-building foreign policy abroad the president will be free to focus on quality, not quantity, when it comes to the few tasks that remain as authorized by the Constitution.

As President, Dr. Paul will not be the "Decider." All the Decidin’ was already done by the Constitution and "all laws made in pursuance thereof." The Supreme Law will suffice. We will no longer need to be plagued by someone who relishes the title: "leader of the free world" [talk about an oxymoron!?]. The 9^th and 10^th Amendments will be taken seriously and observed with perfect faith. Just think how many well-informed patriots will be watching Dr. No’s every move – not to mention a "handful" of political enemies. [To comprehend the importance of the 9^th and 10^th Amendments, and the rather narrow lawful jurisdiction of the Federal Government according to original intent, read the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798/99.]

Doubtless many misapplications of law will have to be set aside as Dr. No continues to obey the Oath he swore to the Constitution. Those Justices who do not wish to take early retirement will be welcome to stay as long as they rule according to law and uphold their Oath. There should be no need to pack the court. And the Administration will be poised to Veto anything and everything Unconstitutional that may come across the President’s desk from the Legislature. If the Congress has the "courage" to override his Veto, President Ron can still direct the Justice Department, and the entire Executive Branch, to disregard it as Unconstitutional. In other words, we will have no expectation of Ron Paul violating his oath any more than we needed to be anxious about it in the past. Unlike Mr. Bush, Dr. Paul will never say, "They [the Congress] make the laws, and I execute 'em." He might say, Congress can override my Veto if they wish to embarrass themselves. But I will not enforce an Unconstitutional law."

Now down to business… You have one year to prepare for the job. But you say, "Where are the Cliff Notes?" What shall we use to reestablish the limits of lawful government?

There have been many great statesmen in the history of our Republic who have sacrificed and spent their fortunes to preserve the knowledge and understanding that can return us to an American Golden Age. One of them was Hamilton Abert Long, an attorney who left the practice of law to save his country. A veteran of both World Wars, he died before the turn of the last century without realizing the totality of his goal. But I am sure he knew the value of his work, and that, if his admonitions were followed, liberty would once again be the rule and not the exception. In fact, I would recommend them to any nation who wants to be truly free. The text is available online.

Go there and get to work. There will be no excuses – and we have no time to waste. If you can find a better more compact compendium on Americanism I would like to know about it. Long’s text is also excellent as a refresher course from time to time, or as a tool to motivate and encourage.

It was originally entitled "Your American Yardstick." But when he had it reprinted for the American Bi-Centennial in 1976 he re-titled it "The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles."

I have used the American Ideal to save time when I get angry emails from folks who disagree with me about anything to do with the rule of law or a proper application of original American philosophy. In one recent incident I simply asked the e-mailer to please read the book carefully and get back to me if we still appear to disagree. You may enjoy using it to help others up to American speed as I have for several years.

Within the short essay "Government," Bastiat gives us a working definition that can help us maintain our vigilance. He says, "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." He was not speaking of Lawful Government – only of a principle motivation for the abuse of governing authority. So we know to look for the vested interest in legislation – follow the money trail before you spend the money. And with Gold and Silver our Lawful Money it will once again be possible to tighten the purse strings. If it’s Unconstitutional it doesn’t get funded.

For more guidance get to know the Code of Ethics for Government Service, a present set of laws [not just ideals] already appears on posters throughout our halls of government. The first time I read it I couldn’t believe they would leave it on the walls in their workplaces. What if visitors read it and started comparing it with government behavior? I eventually realized their mindset must be caused by Bastiat’s principle above combined with a sort of personal plausible deniability that can exist in a highly compartmentalized and complex organization.

In my experience, there are those within government service who will almost immediately resign when confronted with the whole truth, and there are those who are so double-minded that they can remain until retirement without the slightest internal conflict. Many are between these two extremes and occasionally frustrated as they consider that they may not be able to go the distance to retirement without violating their consciences by "just following orders."

So the Code of Ethics guides a few, irritates a few, is disregarded by many – and is despised by many. Most citizens are obviously unaware of how consistently it is violated.

One more caveat: We must learn to watch out for those dedicated government servants who really believe they are "helping us" by controlling us, and using our resources and force to build their vision of Utopia without our consent. Perhaps C.S. Lewis said it best: "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

In his First Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan chose to quote the great patriot Dr. Joseph Warren. "Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of.... On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves."

Are you ready for the call? Am I?

January 21, 2008

Bill Huff [send him mail] is a Classical Libertarian and proprietor of LEXREX.com; a former public school music teacher turned home schooling advocate; a US Navy veteran, and host of WarIsARacket.com.

Back to LewRockwell.com Home Page