What a GREAT explaination of Government.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In the Pledge of Allegiance we all pledge allegiance to
our Republic, not to a democracy. "Republic" is the
proper description of our government, not "democracy." I
invite you to join me in raising public awareness regarding that
distinction.
The distinction between our Republic and a democracy is not an idle
one. It has great legal significance.
The Constitution guarantees to every state a Republican form of
government (Art. 4, Sec. 4). No state may join the United States
unless it is a Republic. Our Republic is one dedicated to
"liberty and justice for all." Minority individual rights
are the priority. The people have natural rights instead of civil
rights. The people are protected by the Bill of Rights from the
majority. One vote in a jury can stop all of the majority from
depriving any one of the people of his rights; this would not be so
if the United States were a democracy. (see
People's
rights vs Citizens' rights)
In a pure democracy 51 beats 49[%]. In a democracy there is no such
thing as a significant minority: there are no minority rights
except civil rights (privileges) granted by a condescending
majority. Only five of the U.S. Constitution's first ten
amendments apply to Citizens of the United States. Simply stated, a
democracy is a dictatorship of the majority. Socrates was executed
by a democracy: though he harmed no one, the majority found him
intolerable.
SOME DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS
Government. ....the government is but an agency of the state,
distinguished as it must be in accurate thought from its scheme and
machinery of government. ....In a colloquial sense, the United
States or its representatives, considered as the prosecutor in a
criminal action; as in the phrase, "the government objects to
the witness." [Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, p.
625]
Government; Republican government. One in which the powers of
sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the
people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the
people, to whom those powers are specially delegated. In re Duncan,
139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; Minor v. Happersett, 88
U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627. [Black's Law Dictionary,
Fifth Edition, p. 626]
Democracy. That form of government in which the sovereign power
resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens
directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as
distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy.
Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, pp. 388-389.
Note: Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, can be found in
any law library and most law offices.
COMMENTS
Notice that in a Democracy, the sovereignty is in the whole body of
the free citizens. The sovereignty is not divided to smaller units
such as individual citizens. To solve a problem, only the whole
body politic is authorized to act. Also, being citizens,
individuals have duties and obligations to the government. The
government's only obligations to the citizens are those
legislatively pre-defined for it by the whole body politic.
In a Republic, the sovereignty resides in the people themselves,
whether one or many. In a Republic, one may act on his own or
through his representatives as he chooses to solve a problem.
Further, the people have no obligation to the government; instead,
the government being hired by the people, is obliged to its owner,
the people.
The people own the government agencies. The government agencies own
the citizens. In the United States we have a three-tiered cast
system consisting of people ---> government agencies ---> and
citizens.
The people did "ordain and establish this Constitution,"
not for themselves, but "for the United States of
America." In delegating powers to the government agencies the
people gave up none of their own. (See Preamble of U.S.
Constitution). This adoption of this concept is why the U.S. has
been called the "Great Experiment in self government."
The People govern themselves, while their agents (government
agencies) perform tasks listed in the Preamble for the benefit of
the People. The experiment is to answer the question, "Can
self-governing people coexist and prevail over government agencies
that have no authority over the People?"
The citizens of the United States are totally subject to the laws
of the United States (See 14th Amendment of U.S. Constitution).
NOTE: U.S. citizenship did not exist until July 28, 1868.
Actually, the United States is a mixture of the two systems of
government (Republican under Common Law, and democratic under
statutory law). The People enjoy their God-given natural rights in
the Republic. In a democracy, the Citizens enjoy only government
granted privileges (also known as civil rights).
There was a great political division between two major
philosophers, Hobbes and Locke. Hobbes was on the side of
government. He believed that sovereignty was vested in the state.
Locke was on the side of the People. He believed that the fountain
of sovereignty was the People of the state. Statists prefer Hobbes.
Populists choose Locke. In California, the Government Code sides
with Locke. Sections 11120 and 54950 both say, "The people of
this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which
serve them." The preambles of the U.S. and California
Constitutions also affirm the choice of Locke by the People.
It is my hope that the U.S. will always remain a Republic, because
I value individual freedom.
Thomas Jefferson said that liberty and ignorance cannot coexist.*
Will you help to preserve minority rights by fulfilling the promise
in the Pledge of Allegiance to support the Republic? Will you help
by raising public awareness of the difference between the Republic
and a democracy?
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a
state of civilization,it expects what never was and never will
be."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1816.
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