As a Libertarian I’m a supporter of the Constitution of the United States. That’s a period at the end of that sentence.
I find it extremely discouraging that people seem to increasingly care very little about that document, regardless if whether a Democrat or a Republican. In elections Libertarians generally get about 1% or less of the vote; this means that 99% of voters in this country vote for Democrats or Republicans.
If people only care about the parts of the Constitution that are expedient to their cause of the moment it means the document doesn’t have any real meaning at all. We live in a Representative Republic wherein the people choose their elected officials. If the people don’t care about the Constitution then the duly elected representatives will not either.
Georgia is a case in point that strikes home so powerful, so undeniably that I’m using it as an example. This doesn’t mean that Georgia is alone in their cherry-picking of Constitutional Rights, it just means that it’s the example I’m using. I think the problem extends to every state and every district in this country.
Here are two news stories:
The Georgia legislature wants to drug test welfare recipients.
The Georgia legislature allows firearms to be carried just about anywhere.
Here are two Amendments:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
This absolute insistence on following the Constitution when it promotes a policy you agree with and utter disregard for the Constitution when it protects someone you don’t like is extraordinarily disturbing to me. Even worse, the proponents and opponents of these two policies are inversely related to the political party to which they belong, unless they’re in the 1% with me.
This means that 99% of the people don’t care at all about Constitution, they care about political expediency.
The people who argue both sides of both situations can rationalize their position all they want. I’m not hearing it.
Here’s the deal. People are allowed to have guns. The government cannot search me without probable cause.
If you’ve got a problem with either of those things then you’re in the majority. If you love freedom then that should cause you great concern.
Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere
Actually I wasn’t going to tell you that you wrong, it’s rare that I agree with someone, anymore. I’m a Constitutionalist, and I use that title to describe myself because I find that so many libertarians are Anarchists in sheep’s clothing. You don’t have to explain to me the difference, I have a brother who is proclaimed Libertarian, he is no Anarchists, but all I am stating is the frequency in which I run into has been often here lately.
I just mentioned one of these issues the other day that its different for a business to screen for drugs than the government because the government is in violation of the 4th amendment by doing so.
Also I love the mention of “Well regulated” by the those opposed to the 2nd, as to mean that the government must overseer a militia with immense governmental regulation, I wish the founders could have seen that language here would change in our present age to mean something else in within the government. My reply is twofold that the people are the unorganized Militia by law, and also “well regulated” in the context of 18th century writing merely means well supplied, which it appears with all the government buy ups on ammo, and now reports of them destroying it….they would be in violation of this.
Thank you for the comment, phadde2,
I agree that many people proclaiming themselves to be Libertarian are these days more like Anarchists.
I also agree that the super-nuanced interpretation of the Constitution is what causes a lot of issues.
The only thing I disagree with, and I’m not really well-versed on the subject, is the destruction of ammunition. My understanding was that it was largely old and unstable ammunition with potentially some good rounds within but not worth the time to sort through. I could be wrong.
Thanks again and come back any time,
Tom
On the last part, you are correct that the report was on “old” ammunition but I’m of two minds on this, 1. What a waste. 2. I’m skeptical of the government when they get news coverage of something of this nature.
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