At the suggestion of a good friend, I went to the bookstore and picked up a copy of Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. I should be cursing my friend for recommending it, as I have found it difficult to put the damn thing down to tend to my daily chores.
A few nights ago, way past my normal bedtime I might add, I came across a phrase that I haven't been able get out of my head since reading it. Two characters, Dagny Taggert and Hank Reardon were having a discussion and one of them said something about how many people just occupy space on this planet.
I have always been fond of saying that some people are just wasting good oxygen, but when I read that in Atlas Shrugged, the words just leapt off the pages and struck a chord that is still resounding. I can relate to the sentiments expressed by that statement as I experience them almost every where I go.
For instance, there are people with whom I work that are, for the most part, decent, friendly people. But for some reason they seem to be under the impression that all they have to do is show up on time, put in 8 hours, and then get a paycheck. It almost seems as if you are asking for a miracle if you expect them to do some work, or, heaven forbid, to actually break a sweat in the process of earning that paycheck. In other words, they just occupy space, and do not do anything productive.
However, my purpose in writing this commentary is not to complain about the work, or the lack thereof, performed by the people where I am employed. No, my goal is to hopefully piss enough people off that they will be challenged to prove me wrong about them.
You see, as I continued to read Atlas Shrugged I came across another conversation that stated, in no uncertain terms, what I feel about the vast majority of people that occupy this nation. Again, don't misunderstand me, it is not that I dislike anyone, this is just something I have noticed about them in my day to day observations.
In the book, Dagny Taggert was having another conversation, this time with a Dr. Stadler, who was in charge of a National Science Institute. Dr. Stadler told her, "Men are not open to truth or reason. They cannot be reached by a rational argument. The mind is powerless against them." He went on to tell Dagny, "You are an unusual, brilliant child who has not seen enough of life to grasp the full measure of human stupidity..."
It has been said that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. If that is true, then there are a whole lot of minds going to waste in this country.
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of importance placed upon trivialities, such as sporting events and television shows. Especially when our country has steadily been changing from one in which the government represents the will of the people, (under the rule of law), into a socialistic state in which the government controls all.
Many years ago, Thomas Jefferson said, “Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master.”
Fear can assume many shapes. One does not need to be reduced to a quivering mass of useless flesh to exhibit fear. For example, when someone says they need to pay their income taxes on time because they are afraid of being audited, they are exhibiting fear of the government. When one wears a motorcycle helmet to avoid a ticket, just because some government entity arbitrarily said that motorcycle helmets are required by law, they are exhibiting fear of the government.
Our government has grown so big, so powerful, that it no longer comes close to resembling the government that was intended by our founders when the Constitution was written.
Whose fault is this? Most people won't be able to answer that, because for them to answer correctly would mean looking into the mirror and admitting their own guilt.
Allow me to explain why I say that. Say someone works in a power plant, or any other facility where equipment is operating. The people who work there, first have to understand how the equipment operates. Then they must monitor gauges and instruments, ensuring pressures, liquid levels, and temperatures are maintained for that equipment to perform as designed. If they neglect their duty the machine will malfunction, possibly causing damage, or even death.
The same goes for our government. For our government to function as designed, it was expected that the people would monitor it closely for deviations from specifications found in the operating manual. In this case, the operating manual being the Constitution.
We the people of this country hold the ultimate authority, not the government. As George Washington once said, "The power under the constitution will always be in the people."
It is through our, and our predecessors neglect, that our government has grown into this monstrosity that invades every aspect of our lives and is attempting to assume total control over us.
Let me give you just one small example of how our government is in violation of the principles contained in the Constitution.
Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution states, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." In simple terms anyone can understand, only Congress can make laws.
Under the presidency of George W. Bush, we were introduced to a new governmental agency, the Department of Homeland Security. While the ability of the president to create agencies such as this are not clearly spelled out in the Constitution, it does say, about the Presidents powers, in article 2, Section 2, "He shall have power...appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls..." Article 2, Section 2 also says, "...he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices..."
Notice that nowhere in these clauses does it grant the President, nor any of his departments, to create law, as that power lies solely with Congress. Therefore any federal agency, other than Congress, which enacts a law is in violation of the Constitution.
The reason I mention the Dept. of Homeland Security is because one of its sub-agencies, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency is considering banning pocket knives that are currently perfectly legal, as they are to now be considered as switchblade knives due to their construction.
Put aside for a moment the fact that any ban on knives, including switchblades, is a violation of the second amendment of our right to keep and bear arms. What I want people to pay attention to is that a government agency, filled with people who were not elected by the populace in general, are now creating law. These laws are just as binding as if they had been passed by Congress and signed by the President.
I defy anyone to show me where in the Constitution that this is allowed! Yet we the people sit idly by and allow these transgressions to take place without uttering even a whimper.
There are so many government agencies today that our founders would be amazed that we have not revolted. We have a Drug Czar, an Energy Czar, a newly created Pay Czar to make sure CEO's aren't paid too much, and even a Car Czar to watch over the performance of the automotive industry.
Each of these organizations enact what is called policy, but it is still as binding as law. Yet none of them have the constitutional authority to prohibit anyone from doing anything.
I constantly hear people whine and complain about how bad things are in this country, and how the government isn't doing anything to fix them. Damn it people, the government is what screwed things up in the first place! If they would have stayed out of areas they were not authorized to interfere in, then all kinds of things would have run the way they were supposed to.
One of the most important areas where the government screwed things up was in our system of education. H. L. Mencken clearly explained what is wrong with education today when he said, "That erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all, it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality."
It is because you have been taught that it is the purpose of government to fix societies woes that you continue to blindly accept that whatever they do is in our best interests.
However, God gave each of us a brain, and that is why I said there are a lot of wasted minds in this country, because no one seems to be using theirs.
Robert Ingersoll, once said, "There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence."
I, on the other hand, believe as did comedian George Carlin, who said, “I do this real moron thing, it‘s called thinking, and I‘m not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions.”
The Constitution still exists, for how much longer I cannot say. All that needs to be done to fix this country is to demand that it be upheld, as it is the operating manual for our government.
Or you can go back to your trivial pursuits, while you continue to just ‘occupy space' on this planet. Just don't come crying to me when they slap those leg irons on you and declare that you are their slave.
Copyright by Neal Ross
