All men, are by nature, equal and free, and all lawful government is founded in the consent of those who are subject to it. The consequence is, that the happiness of the society is the first law of every government.
James Wilson (delegate to the Constitutional Convention)
What’s really on the ballot this year is the happiness of our society because, after Democrat Party rule for twelve of the last sixteen year, only 19% of the electorate believes the US is heading in “the right direction” (source: Reuters). If Democrats were following James Wilson’s advice (quote above), then more than 40% of voters would support Biden’s policies and positions. I think everyday folks know tyranny when they see it.
Most Americans believe Franklin reasoned, Jefferson argued, and Washington fought against tyranny, then gathered with representatives of the thirteen colonies in Philadelphia to create a country and constitution that served we the people (source: YouGov). Informed by the best and worst of Roman history, they built an enduring republic with checks and balances (tripartite government), federalism (powers reserved for the states), bill of rights (powers reserved for the individual), and NO mechanism for a temporary dictatorship.
Still, despite 50 empowered states, 1,780 independent federal judges, Democrats decry “how close we were to dictatorship” on January 6 – when it was no such thing. I observed a thousand or so miscreants inviting death and injury in the Capitol building, but never saw the US government close to being toppled. In fact, the chaos never left the Beltway. It did not look like a coup or insurrection to me…for three reasons.
One, eight hours after Trump spoke, the Capitol Police had announced the Capitol building was secure and Pence was speaking from the dais: “To those who wreaked havoc in our capitol today, you did not win.” Police rounded up perpetrators that very day (about 1,186 have now been charged, mostly for trespassing) and, fourteen days later, Joe Biden was inaugurated and sending out executive orders, mostly reversing Trump’s energy and immigration policies.
Two, I was in Bangkok shortly after the September 2006 coup, where the military had arrested cabinet members, dissolved parliament and the constitution court, declared martial law, cancelled the October election, banned protests, and censored media. They also encouraged private-sector business as usual, and eventually held elections in December 2007. Maybe Buddhists are just chill, but my company’s Thai vendors – whose government was actually toppled – behaved nothing like Nancy Pelosi and the talking heads on MSNBC.
Three, I’d observed Democrats supporting violent anti-Trump riots after the 2016 election, lived through Russiagate, and written about eight anti-American actions or proposals by Democrats: (1) weaponizing federal agencies (2) politically indoctrinating youths in public schools, (3) coordinating with social media to censor Republicans, (4) colluding with reporters to spin the news, (5) sponsoring legislation to nationalize election laws, (6) supporting an end to the electoral college, (7) proposing an end to the Senate filibuster, and (8) promising to pack the Supreme Court.
No question, those are steps toward an all-powerful central state, uniformity in all 50 states, orchestrated consent of the governed, and fewer free individuals. That is a sure-fire way for “the happiness of the society” to degenerate into the dystopia described in Animal Farm, Brave New World, and The Trial. This is sad because Democrats used to have “the common good” at heart – when they understood the “pursuit of happiness” ran from the individual through family, church, and community to one’s government (i.e. local, state, and federal representatives).
In just the Biden years, Democrats ordered masks and vaccines on individuals, kept parents out of their child’s gender discussions, spied on Virginia Catholics, and dumped illegal aliens on non-consenting communities. Now, the owners of Facebook and Twitter X have admitted to colluding with federal agencies to ban free speech (from dissenting Republicans). If not for red-state governors, the sovietization of our country would be complete by now. Thankfully, not!
In celebration of Constitution Day (9-17), let’s acknowledge the wisdom of federalism (states controlled by two levels of government) as the right government model for a vast continent that’s grown to over 330,000,000 inhabitants. Because of states’ rights, Democrats could not turn Florida into California when they enjoyed single party control (2021-2022). Our federalist constitution deliberately ensures broad latitude for Floridians and Californians to govern themselves, while allowing the federal government to bring uniformity in certain areas (e.g. National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984).
The result is very different states that don’t come into conflict with one another, because lots of issues are kept off the national stage. Conflict was avoided because California’s policies (e.g. entitlements for illegal aliens) weren’t forced upon Florida. In turn, Florida is free to make its own mistakes (e.g. 6-week abortion ban), and aggrieved Floridians are free to move to a state they find more appealing without giving up their US citizenship. Suffice it to note that free-market habitation (the right to relocate within the USA) promotes relative harmony.
The right to relocate is central to the happiness of society in America: 97% of US family trees include a coming to America story, and 41% of US adults have relocated to a new state. These personal relocations identify the most attractive states, sending a wake-up call to Democrats. Like Florida adding 1,353,000 residents and California losing 900,000 in the last five years, and 115 million citizens now making (conservative) Dixie the most populous region of the USA.
Numerous polls and surveys find anger levels in the US at record highs, so imagine the national anger if relocations had been prevented or taxed by federal laws. Don’t scoff, because Democrat governors in California and New York suggested exit taxes on wealthy residents relocating to new states – while Republican governors in Florida and Texas were forced to spend their residents’ taxes coping with an immigration problem hoisted on them by Democrats in Washington.
The Wall Street Journal reports two-thirds of US citizens resent how Biden-Harris has handled immigration. Our federalist Constitution keeps many issues out of Washington just so a federal border czar can focus on millions of foreigners sneaking across our shared border. That’s why many millions will vote against Kamala Harris this fall; she was handed one job to do, and completely failed.
I, for one, do not consent to Harris failing upward into the presidency, where she would guarantee an unhappy society!