“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance;
And a people who mean to be their own governors
must arm themselves with the power
which knowledge gives.”
James Madison
We also have such invasions of privacy as national ID’s, social security numbers, government involvement in licensing of endeavors (permission slips to conduct business or work for a business, drive, marriage, etc.), the ability to monitor telephone and Internet activities, and gun control.
Of course, there are many other ways the government intrudes into our lives such as proper enrollment in public (state) schools which involves social security numbers and other private information. But this isn’t directly about that.
Knowledge verses ignorance is what this is about. Ask a 1000 people why they pay 'income' taxes on their earnings. The answer is most likely to be ‘because it is the law’. Ask these same people their actual “by the Constitution taxable income" and they are most likely to state either their gross or net income. Of course, the correct answer for the majority of American citizens is ZERO.
When the government started direct taxation of personal income, people didn’t read the Constitution, the 16th Amendment, or really question the government by studying the tax codes. After all, it is the government; it knows what it is doing and it certainly would not do anything unconstitutional.
As an example, when I went to work for Wal-Mart (we have parted company due to their treatment of employees and less-than-poverty-level pay), people at work said it was the law that every business must take income taxes out of an employee’s pay. Not true, of course, but believed by the majority of American workers and employers.
Ask another 1000 why they have a social security number. The answer is most likely to be ‘because it is the law’ or ‘because I have to have one’. The same applies to filling out a W-4 or giving their social security number to people who haven't any right to know. But, do citizens have to participate in the Social Security system? Again - for most citizens - no.
When the government started spreading the lie that adults and all kids must get a social security number assigned to them, people didn’t question the government and read the laws. People didn't question filling out W-4 forms or even tried to find out what the form is really used for. They just started getting themselves and their offspring numbers. After all, it is the government; it knows what it is doing and it certainly would not do anything unconstitutional.
So, we have ended up being numbered. Then, to top it off,
unknowledgeable people fell into line and preached the law as if they knew what they were talking about. I have asked people throughout the social strata and every last person believed everybody is required by law to get a social security number. Not true, but believed by the majority of American workers.
Ask another group of a 1000 the ramifications of further legislation affecting the Second Amendment is and most won’t be able to tell you because they don’t know (a) what the
Second Amendment states, or (b) can’t tell you what the purpose of the amendment is, or (c) doesn’t know what legislation has been enacted that directly goes against the Constitution>
Thus, ignorance of our Republic, especially the documents forged through blood, sweat, and tears to establish this nation, keep the citizens of this nation bowing to the wants of the government, an entity composed of people who strive for a stronger, larger, centralized government, not the liberties of the individual.
Ignorance fuels the attitude of “the government can do and will do what it wants, anyway, and it doesn’t matter who is in office”. This attitude of defeat and/or indifference has allowed our liberties of privacy and the pursuit of livelihood as we see fit without government interference, having been virtually lost.
What I am trying to get across is this: As long as the people of this nation remain unknowledgeable to the Constitution, the limitations of government, legislation that has been passed into law, or legislation being proposed, the government will continue doing as it has been -
centralizing itself into the controlling entity with all rights of citizens as stated in the Constitution effectively done away with.
Liberty will be a forgotten concept. Welles’ 1984 will have been realized as having been reached by all Americans instead of by the relatively few as it now is.
With the complacent society we now have, it is likely that rebellion won’t occur until cameras are placed in the bathrooms of people’s homes. (And, maybe not even then.) But, of course, it will be too late then as all means of rebelling will have been removed.
We will no longer have a choice as to what people are put into office as the government will determine who will be elected. It probably is now through ‘fixing’ of national
elections along with the amount of money it takes to run for political office. It is only a matter of time until Freedom of Choice as to representation will be a forgotten concept.
And it isn’t necessary that those in government know any more about the Constitution and other laws - it is just that they know the general public doesn’t know and, therefore, can
pretty well get away with any legislation they choose.
Thus, unless those who now know what the government is doing rise into the majority and stop the government through the means we still have available, all the rhetoric written and
spoken, all the knowledge gained, is nothing more than an exercise in futility.
If the majority remains a non-caring, ignorant-of-the-law mass, the government will continue doing as it has been. We might as well, Ladies and Gentlemen, resign ourselves to our self-determined fate -