A Slower Pace

I believe last week’s Supreme Court decision on the confiscation of private property was a pivotal point in American history because of the usurped power of the average American. We are not as “free” as we think we are. But then again, we have been sliding down this slippery slope for a while now and probably don’t have the gumption to fight it. We would rather be a “kept” people rather than a people who fight for what’s right (see Wednesday’s post on American pussies). I remember a quote that describes a cycle that goes something like:

Revolution leads to independence
which leads to freedom
which leads to opportunity
which leads to prosperity which leads to wealth
which leads to comfort
which leads to sloth
which leads to apathy
which leads to weakness
which leads to reliance
which leads to submission
which leads to oppression
which leads to revolution.

(If someone has the real quote that I tried to convey above, please email it to me.)

I will also quote Thomas Jefferson:

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

People, I believe we have arrived at that point. Short of impeaching the justices who made the majority decision, we are now at the mercy of the judicial branch. In so many aspects of American life, fights that were in the legislative or executive branches have been back-doored to the judicial branch with successful regularity. For example, take California’s Prop 187 which intended to address the swelling costs of illegal immigration. Someone has to pay and the regular California citizen didn’t want it to be them, as was evident in the poll’s victory margin (see http://www.townhall.com/columnists/terencejeffrey/tj20030827.shtml or http://www.ccir.net/REFERENCE/187-History.html). And now we have a private property ruling that allows big bullies — cities, governments and corporations — to mow over the little guy. That puts you and me in the crosshairs. You might not think any of your property or possessions are at risk — that this “doesn’t affect me”. But the minute you let this happen to someone, it can happen to anyone. Luckily, someone has more foresight than I do…..or judge Souter. See this post at Ex-Donkey or the original link here. It is just brilliant!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net