Essay contest at my college (my entry)

Should Americans care about the content and meaning of the Constitution?
By Floyd C. Bayne

A timely question to be sure, but perhaps a better question would be, “Should Americans care about freedom?” Understanding the history of our founding documents, especially the Constitution, requires more than just a cursory reading. We must first understand what it is that the Constitution does. Then we must seek to understand how our Founding Fathers came to pen this document.

I submit that part of the confusion exhibited by most Americans comes from the fact that they think the Constitution grants certain rights to man. The Constitution grants nothing, it simply recognizes, and seeks to enumerate, certain inherent rights of man. I say ‘certain’ because to enumerate all of man’s inherent rights would require so much paper and time that the document would be unwieldy.

Our founders, through the Constitution, then did what few governments before had ever dared do; they enumerated the restrictions that the document placed on the government, not on the people. It recognized the PEOPLE as the final arbiters of how they were to be governed. By the consent of the governed! The simple beauty, the genius of the words, is so easily forgotten in our fast-paced, me-first world. That document, that glorious piece of paper, created as it was through much hardship and sacrifice, seeks to clearly state the rightful place of man in relation to his government. The people ARE the government. They decide how they will be governed, not the politician.

The Constitution demands personal responsibility of the citizens by placing the onus for governing on them. They must select their representatives, they must participate in the process, and they must demand accountability of those they select to be their voice. It is far too common in our culture today for people to expect the government, or some bureaucracy, to be their caretaker. This ignores the fact that in order for the government, at any level, to take care of any person, requires the government to take from another. Government produces nothing; it is not charged, under our Constitution, with the care of individual citizens, it is not to help one at the expense of another.

The responsibility of the government is to protect the rights of the individual from abuse by others. How to accomplish this task is what the Constitution seeks to achieve. As James Bovard states, in his treatise “Freedom in Chains – The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen,” “What is needed is not a political philosophy that promises the moon but merely one that limits havoc on Earth. Politicians will always be with us. The goal must be to minimize the coercive power that some people hold over other people (249).”

James Madison, credited with authoring the Constitution, stated in Federalist No. 45 that, “…the powers of the new government would be few and defined [emphasis mine](Pilon 25).” All one need do to understand the nation that our Founding Fathers envisioned is read more than one book on the subject. Read the personal letters, the speeches, the official correspondence that took place during the Constitutional Convention, and all ambiguity will be removed. How then does one explain the current state of our government? Do we still, truly, enjoy the freedom that the founders strove so diligently to create?

What can be done to return our government to the limitations placed on it by our Constitution? Do each of you feel that we are governed within the guidelines set forth in that document? Joseph Sobran does not think so. An American journalist and writer, Mr. Sobran states, “Can the real Constitution be restored? Probably not. Too many Americans depend on government money under programs the Constitution doesn’t authorize, and money talks with an eloquence Shakespeare could only envy. Ignorant people don’t understand the Federalist Papers, but they understand government checks with their names on them.” Is Mr. Sobran correct? If the American people remain ignorant of the meaning of our Constitution, I am afraid he is. This is why we must educate ourselves about this most important document.

This is why each of us who cares about freedom must stand up and make ourselves heard. To defeat the ignorance surrounding this founding document, to educate our fellow countrymen, to insist that our schools do a better job of teaching our young people about the Constitution, to reclaim the freedom our Founding Fathers risked all for, to finally restrain the leviathan that is our government, we must care about the content and meaning of our Constitution.
I, for one, do not subscribe to Mr. Sobran’s pessimistic view. If I did I would not bother to write this essay. If I did I would not take the time to write letters to my representatives. If I did I would not pay attention to the political conniving that goes on in our seats of government. It is easy to throw our hands up in frustration and just quit, but that is not what our forefathers did, and the legacy of perseverance that they have established motivates me.

Should Americans care about the content and meaning of the Constitution? If they care about freedom then the answer is a resounding, YES!

Works Cited
Boward, James. Freedom in Chains - the Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen. 1st ed. New York, NY: St. Martin_P, 1999. 1-326.
"Great Quotes." Constitutional Freedom Foundation. 31 Aug. 2007 <http://www.constitutionalfreedomfoundation.org/Articles/great_quotes.htm>.
Samples, John, ed. James Madison and the Future of Limited Government. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2002. 1-246.

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:25 pm Post subject:

Well written Cynic! Razz

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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject:

Thank you, Studdog. Very Happy

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Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage!

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 12:05 am Post subject:

summarize it for me in one word with more than 8 letters but less than 11
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Humanism- Less Filling, Tastes Great.

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 12:36 am Post subject:

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:52 am Post subject:

I think the contest is primarily to see who the students are who have paid attention in English composition class. The winner gets a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble (I love books). Yes I have entered it already.
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Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage!

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject:

Kinda short for an essay, but very well written...
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Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out!

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject:

nicely done Cynic!!
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:26 pm Post subject:

my post was deleted.

oh well

Good Read
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***Help the Journey to 50,000 Posts***

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:20 pm Post subject:

Thanks, guys. By the way, HTR, there was a 1000 word limit placed on the submissions and I came in just under the wire.
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Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage!