When writing about a specific and focused topic such as ‘power’ I like to make sure the definition is clear and concise before anything else. I knew where I wanted to go with this subject when laying out the groundwork for this article. I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish. But finding a consensus on the official meaning/definition of ‘power’ just isn’t out there in full agreement by the experts. So, I am going to combine 3 different definitions from 3 trusted sources to get us all on the same page.

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Power: the belief that an entity possesses the authority to influence, control, or produce an effect. Further, a specific power can only reside in, or with, one entity at a time; and, it can shift between or among various entities for a virtually endless number of reasons.

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Here is the problem…the conflict that arises when two opposing entities try to possess the same exact power.

A parent-child relationship is a good example of power…especially when dealing with teenagers. Let’s take a 16-year old with a new drivers license. That child wants to drive the parent’s car, the drivers license gives that child the power/authority to drive. But, the car belongs to the parent, therefore the power/authority to use the car belongs to the parent. However, the child believes that the power of the license they possess overrides the parent’s power to control the car usage. When the parent says ‘no’ to the child wanting to use the car, the conflict usually ends up with the child telling the parent they aren’t being fair. That ‘fairness’ argument is a point to remember.

On a larger scale there is, and always has been, an ongoing power struggle between governments and citizens. When a conflict arises governments usually solve the problem fairly easily and quickly…they send in lots of armed men to convince the citizens to comply with the government’s exercise of power. Should the citizens continue to resist being convinced…the armed men simply imprison or kill the non-compliant citizens. This style of conflict resolution has been the gold standard for a very long time…as in thousands and thousands of years. Overwhelmingly governments have won those conflicts; however, there were exceptions.

One notable exception was the American Revolution where a bunch of ragtag militias grouped together to militarily and politically defeat an empire with the largest and most powerful army and navy in the world at the time. As a result of that defeat of a large and powerful tyrannical government…there was a paradigm shift in the entire world. Not exclusively in terms of the military victory, although it was fairly unique, it was more a paradigm shift in political terms.

For the first time…citizens felt empowered to actually control and run the government themselves…that governmental power actually came from them, the citizens.

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America not simply understood the whole principle of ‘power’, they were also clearly rooted in the origination of that power. But it went further than that…they had a clarity in the appropriate function of government. All of that manifested itself in the Declaration of Independence (DOI).

• The origin of power: “…to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…” and “…

they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• The rights of citizens: “…among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”

• The role of government: “…to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men…”

• The owners of governmental power: “…deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…”

For the first time in the history of man the Founders acknowledged that rights are given to mankind from God, and those rights override any governmental power. To understand just what that means you have to fully comprehend the meaning of ‘unalienable’. Unalienable means impossible to take away or give up, not capable of being taken away or denied.

Exactly what are those unalienable rights? The DOI gives us a general idea; 1) life, 2) liberty, and 3) the pursuit of happiness. Originally #3 was written as ‘property’, which is vitally important to know…the context if you will. But Jefferson changed it at the last minute to be far more sweeping in context. It’s not hard to understand what the Founders had in mind, it is well documented through many volumes of their writings should you want to learn more.

The right to life was pretty clear in that it meant that citizens had a right to not have their life taken for trivial purposes. For a government to take a life it must be through a legal process where the person was assumed to be innocent until, in a court of law with due process by a jury of their peers, the accused had to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It also meant we have a right to defend ourselves (self-defense) and our property (Castle Doctrine)…even to taking another’s life (the offender/culprit) while exercising those two rights. And notice there is no verbiage stating restrictions on who we can protect our life and property from.

The right to liberty was just as clear; meaning a person’s liberty could not be taken or restricted without just cause. A just cause for example would be proving a person guilty of murder in a court of law via due process by a jury of the person’s peers, beyond a reasonable doubt. A person’s liberty was sacrosanct and it was to be treated as such by government.

The right to property was originally used due to the British Crown, and their lower officials, being able to seize a person’s property virtually at will, or restricting permission for which a person’s property could be used. Property ownership, and the independent use thereof, was of paramount importance to Colonists, and a fairly new concept in the world at the time.

The last minute change to the right of happiness was another term that the Founders were clear on. It meant the right to live a life free of governmental interference, or governmental restrictions on a citizen’s rights, freedoms, and liberties. To understand the full significance of this concept you would have to fully digest the Constitution and Bill of Rights…and the extreme restrictions that the Founders placed on government. And the Founder’s use of good and sound reasoning in doing so…experience.

Now it gets interesting…these rights do not come from the government. These rights are not capable of being taken away or denied by government.

Why? Because they come from God. Meaning that God is above government in the power chain of command; solidifying the concept/principle that governmental power is subservient to God’s power.

That last two principles laid out in the DOI are extremely important.

First, governments are established for a singular purpose…to protect these rights -period!!!- “…to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men…”.

There is zero ambiguity there!

Lastly, and here is the crux of it all, the only power that the government possesses comes from its citizens who consent to it.

Governments cannot take power from, or deny/restrict the power of, its citizens. But there is more. The DOI phrase is “…deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…”. Notice the term ‘just’ in there?

One again, words have meaning, intentions, and consequence. The word ‘just’ is defined as “morally upright, good, and being legally correct.” This added protective layer for and of citizens is there for a reason. The government can’t take any ‘power’ from its citizens, even if the citizens agree to it, unless the reasoning to take that power is morally upright, good, and legally correct in and of itself.

For instance…the government cannot assume the power to kill (i.e. euthanize) a person for being a certain color, race, deformity, religion, age, origin, or for convenience. Why? Because none of those reasons are not morally upright, good, or legally correct. Ah, but you say the people have agreed to it (given consent) and therefore believe those reasoning’s to be perfectly acceptable.

Nice try…but where do the powers of the citizens come from? Yup, God…as per the Founders and the authors of the founding principles. So the question must be posed…Would God authorize those reasons to murder/euthanize/abort people?

The answer is simple and plain…No!

Oh…you don’t believe in God?

So what! That doesn’t matter…it absolutely matters not if you believe in God or not. Our Founders did know God and did know He is the source of people’s power and rights…and they documented it. And that my friend in the underpinning of our country, our power, our rights, our freedoms, our liberty and the intended restrictions on government…God.

Now, herein lies the problem…people losing their belief in God…whether willingly, by design, or by coercion. What happens when the protective top layer of “God” is removed from the power equation?

Well then, the ultimate power then lies solely with the people and the ‘unalienable’ part goes away because government can now exercise unrestricted force over their citizens and thus subjugated them. Once that is done…the all power lies with the government through the force of arms. And that takes us right back to the Colonial days of America.

What does that mean to us in today’s world?

Well my friend…we are right back there in Colonial America. The government, through legislation and the Supreme Court, has stripped almost all vestiges of God from not just government, but public life in general. And yes, there are even governmental controls and restrictions on churches and religion in this day and age. And this is thanks to both Democrats and Republicans…the utter evil of politicians and a compliant populace.

No longer does the US federal government understand its power comes from the consent of the governed whose power originates with God. The federal government simply takes power from citizens pretty much at will. The federal government, and all levels of government, now dictate what life is, what liberties you have, and how you can pursue happiness.

Doubt me? Try this…build a house without the permission, inspections, and approval of government…how’s that going to work out for you?

Or maybe this would be a good test…try keeping all of the money you earn, and then spend it as you see right and moral. How’s that one going to come out for you? Hell, in some states you can’t even legally catch the rainwater coming off your roof and store it in a barrel to water your garden with.

But here are the two biggest tests for you…compare what the federal government does today against the immense and clearly defined restrictions on government found in the US Constitution. Finally, compare the actions of any/all levels of government against the Bill of Rights. And just for the heck of it, test it with this…compare all levels of government, even your HOA, against the Declaration of Independence.

Whoa!!! Yeah, I know I am a radical, I admit it. I believe, firmly believe, in adhering to the principles and concepts outlined in America’s founding documents, especially the Declaration of Independence. I also have faith that the Founders knew what they were doing when they penned the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I also believe, unquestionably so, that the United States federal government…along with all levels of government in the United States, have strayed from those documents, principles, concepts, and underlying foundation of rights, liberties, and freedoms. To me it is plain and clear to see. As it should be.

So two final questions; 1) why did we stray?, 2) how do we get back?

#1 – The answer is simple…the lust for money and power by people is the ‘why’ we strayed.

#2 – Returning to the founding principles and concepts, the very foundation of America, is simple as well for the ‘get back’ part:

• We one again realize that God is at the top of the power food chain and restore God to His rightful place,
• We abandon all of the corrupt crap that all levels off government have layered on us,
• We restore the Constitution and Bill of Rights as the only documents that run our governments,
• We fully embrace and practice all precepts and principles in the Declaration of Independence.

Can #2 happen? Of course not. It has all gone too far.Unfortunate to be sure, but reality all the same. To think otherwise is to be unrealistic, fanciful.

Our government has assumed the power of, and replaced, God. In so doing, government ignores that the government’s source of power comes from God through us, the US citizens. The US federal government has assumed the role of God over the United States, therefore they assume the role of ultimate power. A role they are NOT entitled to. No one ever gave them that power at any point in time, ever.

US citizens could try to exercise their proper role/right/power of government ownership, “…deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…”. People could take to heart the Declaration’s “…the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”. It could happen, but not realistically.

If US citizens did try to fulfill their God-given role…then the US federal government, most (if not all) state governments, almost all local governments, virtually every law enforcement officer would declare war on those citizens. Declaring them to be domestic terrorists and war would be the order of the day…which DHS has set the groundwork for. The resulting war/massacre would be bloody, hateful, horrendous, destructive, and almost unimaginable to the average person.

Tragically, read what the the definitions of ‘domestic terrorist’ is now according to various federal law enforcement agencies, especially DHS. It shouldn’t just disturb you…it should scare the hell out of you. Well, only if you believe in our country’s founding principles and concepts.

When the dust would settle from that conflict of government vs patriots (i.e. US citizens)…the end result would be a US totalitarian/authoritarian state with no Constitution, no Bill of Rights, no liberty, no freedom…other than the measly crumbs that government would allow to fall from their table.

Remember the warnings President Biden gave to US citizens…you come against us with AR-15’s…we will send F-15’s. He meant it…that is exactly what the government would do…and it would come from all levels of government, from the military, from law enforcement, from every federal agency. It would be unimaginable total war…bloodshed of unimaginable proportions.

Have you ever considered that is exactly why the Founding Fathers didn’t authorize a standing army in the Constitution? They were vehemently opposed to a standing army for a good reason…weren’t they? They knew…they knew.

Hang on a second, consider this…maybe the actions of what we are seeing on all levels of government in the country today is exactly that…their desire for that exact endgame. It could well be exactly their plan to gain that outcome…a totalitarian/authoritarian state of which I spoke. It sure would make their job easier…especially if we understood more of what exactly their ‘job’ is.

Remember this…

1. Power can only reside in one place at a time.
2. If one entity gains any power, it is at the expense of another entity losing that power.
3. God gave us certain power (unalienable rights) for a reason.
4. And then…what if Thomas Jefferson was right all along about the ‘tree of liberty’?

Maybe…if we organized well enough, tried hard enough, and prayed sincerely enough…

 

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