The Dangers Of Anti Constitutionalism In Modern America

By Earlene McGee


For more than two centuries now, the United States of America has been a nation with a founding document that enshrines liberty of a sort never before seen in history. The men who signed the Constitution had their differences, but the final governing charter they produced was a unique guarantor of individual liberty. Today, however, there is a rising anti constitutionalism in the country threatening to unravel that carefully balanced system.

These opponents of constitutional governance have gained power and influence in the media and academia, and thus have access to many of the most effective means available for spreading their worldview. That, more than anything else, has enabled them to garner increasing support over the last few generations. Today, it is difficult to find a college campus or major media outlet that does not offer some level of support to this philosophy.

The problem that many fail to recognize is that this philosophy is one that has has always existed in one form or another. Since man first arrived on the scene, the limits of individual liberty have almost always been subject to the whims of kings and other autocrats. That historical pattern was shattered when America's Founders put into action ideas that a number of liberty-minded philosophers had been expressing for many decades.

In this different worldview, men have rights that come from their Creator or that exist solely by virtue of their humanity, and those rights cannot be violated or suppressed by government. Those basic human rights cannot be infringed upon by government, because they are not dependent upon government for their existence.

The entirety of the Constitution relies upon that new ideology. It sets out in careful detail the various branches of government, while providing limits on their respective areas of authority. To further strengthen the rights of the individual and States, the Founders also passed ten highly restrictive Amendments that elaborated on those liberties.

Those who battle against the current system include the so-called Progressives, socialists, and other left-leaning groups with collectivist worldviews. Though they present their ideas as fresh and new, they are merely recycled notions that have failed time and again throughout history. Whether it was the Babylonians, the Romans, the North Koreans, or the Soviets, the world has always had its share of dictators claiming that collectivism was more important than personal liberty.

Those who oppose strict constitutional governance today understand that the work of the Founders stands firmly in the path of their desire to control our common destiny. They have spent generations whittling away at the edges of the Constitution, expanding government's reach, and reducing individual freedom. Today, they know that they are closer to their ultimate goal than at any time in history.

As the American people are driven ever further from their constitutional roots, individual sovereignty is being replaced by arbitrary rule from a centralized government. If those who oppose the limits of this nation's Constitution are allowed to succeed, future generations may curse this one for allowing the greatest system of government ever devised by man to slip through its fingers.




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