Mosaic ImmunoEngineering is a nanotechnology-based immunotherapy company developing therapeutics and vaccines to positively impact the lives of patients and their families.
Message: 21st Principle--Strong local self-government
Your Vote:
Did you know?
You can earn activity points by filling your profile with information about yourself (what city you live in, your favorite team, blogs etc.)
21st
Principle
Strong local self-government is the
keystone to preserving human freedom.
Principle
Strong local self-government is the
keystone to preserving human freedom.
-
-
Political power automatically gravitates toward the
center, and the purpose of the Constitution is to prevent that
from happening. The centralization of political power always
destroys liberty by removing the decision-making function
from the people on the local level and transferring it to the
officers of the central government. This process gradually
benumbs the spirit of "voluntarism" among the people, and
they lose the will to solve their own problems. They also
cease to be involved in community affairs. They seek the
anonymity of oblivion in the seething crowds of the city and
often degenerate into faceless automatons who have neither a
voice nor a vote.
center, and the purpose of the Constitution is to prevent that
from happening. The centralization of political power always
destroys liberty by removing the decision-making function
from the people on the local level and transferring it to the
officers of the central government. This process gradually
benumbs the spirit of "voluntarism" among the people, and
they lose the will to solve their own problems. They also
cease to be involved in community affairs. They seek the
anonymity of oblivion in the seething crowds of the city and
often degenerate into faceless automatons who have neither a
voice nor a vote.
-
The Golden Key to Preserving Freedom
-
How different from the New England town spirit, where
every person had a voice and a vote. How different from the
Anglo-Saxon tribal meetings, where the people were
considered sovereign and every man took pride in
participating. And how different from ancient Israel, where
the families of the people were governed in multiples of tens,
fifties, hundreds, and thousands, and where problems were
solved on the level where those problems originated. All of
those societies had strong local self-government. This is what
the Founding Fathers considered the golden key to
preserving freedom.
-
Frothingham says this is exactly what happened as
Englishmen pulled away from the mother country and
migrated to America. He says that in the colonies, "These
assemblies reappeared, and old rights were again enjoyed,
when the emigrants to the soil now the United States began
to frame the laws under which they were to live." (Ibid.)
Englishmen pulled away from the mother country and
migrated to America. He says that in the colonies, "These
assemblies reappeared, and old rights were again enjoyed,
when the emigrants to the soil now the United States began
to frame the laws under which they were to live." (Ibid.)
-
Jefferson Emphasizes the Role of
Strong Local Self-Government
Strong Local Self-Government
-
As the Founders wrote their laws, they were determined
to protect the freedom of the individual and provide a
vigorous climate of healthy, local self-government. Only those
things which related to the interest of the entire
commonwealth were to be delegated to the central
government. Thomas Jefferson probably said it better than
anyone when he wrote:
As the Founders wrote their laws, they were determined
to protect the freedom of the individual and provide a
vigorous climate of healthy, local self-government. Only those
things which related to the interest of the entire
commonwealth were to be delegated to the central
government. Thomas Jefferson probably said it better than
anyone when he wrote:
-
"The way to have good and safe government is not
to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many,
distributing to every one exactly the functions he is
competent to [perform best]. Let the national
government be entrusted with the defense of the nation,
and its foreign and federal relations; the State
governments with the civil rights, laws, police, and
administration of what concerns the State generally; the
counties with the local concerns of the counties, and
each ward [township] direct the interests within itself. It
is by dividing and subdividing these republics, from the
great national one down through all its subordinations,
until it ends in the administration of every man's farm
by himself; by placing under every one what his own eye
may superintend, that all will be done for the best. What
has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every
government which has ever existed under the sun? The
generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into
one body, no matter whether of the autocrats of Russia
or France, or of the aristocrats of a Venetian senate."
(Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 14:421.)
"The way to have good and safe government is not
to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many,
distributing to every one exactly the functions he is
competent to [perform best]. Let the national
government be entrusted with the defense of the nation,
and its foreign and federal relations; the State
governments with the civil rights, laws, police, and
administration of what concerns the State generally; the
counties with the local concerns of the counties, and
each ward [township] direct the interests within itself. It
is by dividing and subdividing these republics, from the
great national one down through all its subordinations,
until it ends in the administration of every man's farm
by himself; by placing under every one what his own eye
may superintend, that all will be done for the best. What
has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every
government which has ever existed under the sun? The
generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into
one body, no matter whether of the autocrats of Russia
or France, or of the aristocrats of a Venetian senate."
(Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 14:421.)
-
Deployment of Power Between the Federal
Government and the States
Government and the States
-
James Madison, who is sometimes described as "the
father of the Constitution," emphasized the necessity to
reserve all possible authority in the states and the people.
The Constitution delegates to the federal government only
that which involves the whole people as a nation. He wrote:
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution
to the federal government are few and defined. Those
which are to remain in the State governments are
numerous and indefinite. The former [federal powers]
will be exercised principally on external objects, as war,
peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce.... The powers
reserved to the several States will extend to all the
objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern
the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the
internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the
State." (The Federalist Papers, No. 45, pp. 292-293.)
Federal Government to Remain Relatively Small
Thomas Jefferson emphasized that if the oncoming
generations perpetuated the Constitutional pattern, the
federal government would be small and cohesive and would
serve as an inexpensive operation because of the limited
problems which would be assigned to it. He wrote:
"The true theory of our Constitution is surely the
wisest and best, that the states are independent as to
everything within themselves, and united as to
everything respecting foreign nations. Let the general
government be reduced to foreign concerns only, and let
our affairs be disentangled from those of all other
nations, except as to commerce, which the merchants
will manage the better, the more they are left free to
manage for themselves, and our general government
may be reduced to a very simple organization, and a
very inexpensive one; a few plain duties to be performed
by a few servants." (Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson,
10:168.)
James Madison, who is sometimes described as "the
father of the Constitution," emphasized the necessity to
reserve all possible authority in the states and the people.
The Constitution delegates to the federal government only
that which involves the whole people as a nation. He wrote:
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution
to the federal government are few and defined. Those
which are to remain in the State governments are
numerous and indefinite. The former [federal powers]
will be exercised principally on external objects, as war,
peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce.... The powers
reserved to the several States will extend to all the
objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern
the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the
internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the
State." (The Federalist Papers, No. 45, pp. 292-293.)
Federal Government to Remain Relatively Small
Thomas Jefferson emphasized that if the oncoming
generations perpetuated the Constitutional pattern, the
federal government would be small and cohesive and would
serve as an inexpensive operation because of the limited
problems which would be assigned to it. He wrote:
"The true theory of our Constitution is surely the
wisest and best, that the states are independent as to
everything within themselves, and united as to
everything respecting foreign nations. Let the general
government be reduced to foreign concerns only, and let
our affairs be disentangled from those of all other
nations, except as to commerce, which the merchants
will manage the better, the more they are left free to
manage for themselves, and our general government
may be reduced to a very simple organization, and a
very inexpensive one; a few plain duties to be performed
by a few servants." (Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson,
10:168.)
-
A Prophecy
-
One of the greatest American historians of the last
generation was John Fiske. He caught the spirit of the
Founders and studied their writings. He knew the secret to
the 5,000 year leap which was then well on its way. He also
saw some dangerous trends away from the Founders' basic
formula of sound government. He therefore wrote a prophecy
which Americans of our own day might ponder with profit:
"If the day should ever arrive (which God forbid!)
when the people of the different parts of our country
shall allow their local affairs to be administered by
prefects sent from Washington, and when the self
government of the states shall have been so far lost as
that of the departments of France, or even so closely
limited as that of the counties of England -- on that day
the political career of the American people will have been
robbed of its most interesting and valuable features, and
the usefulness of this nation will be lamentably
impaired." (John Fiske, The Critical Period of American
History, 1783-1789, The Historical Writings of John
Fiske, vol. 12, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston,
1916, pp. 282-283.)
One of the greatest American historians of the last
generation was John Fiske. He caught the spirit of the
Founders and studied their writings. He knew the secret to
the 5,000 year leap which was then well on its way. He also
saw some dangerous trends away from the Founders' basic
formula of sound government. He therefore wrote a prophecy
which Americans of our own day might ponder with profit:
"If the day should ever arrive (which God forbid!)
when the people of the different parts of our country
shall allow their local affairs to be administered by
prefects sent from Washington, and when the self
government of the states shall have been so far lost as
that of the departments of France, or even so closely
limited as that of the counties of England -- on that day
the political career of the American people will have been
robbed of its most interesting and valuable features, and
the usefulness of this nation will be lamentably
impaired." (John Fiske, The Critical Period of American
History, 1783-1789, The Historical Writings of John
Fiske, vol. 12, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston,
1916, pp. 282-283.)
Loading...
Loading...
New Message
Please
login
to post a reply