I love history because it can teach us so much about what we are going through today. It can also be our guide to the truth. Take our Constitution as an example. During each and every election year, we will hear the words of how certain politicians support our Constitution but it is only words. If you follow their actions you will quickly discover, their true beliefs, are not even close to what the document actually stands for.
Since 1789, our Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times but the original drafted document has remained untouched throughout our history. Isn’t it amazing that even with a steady flow of ever-changing leadership, the original document continues to stand the test of time and the Republic continues to be the example that other countries aspire to emulate?
The most recent attempt to follow our lead was the country of Brazil, in 1988. They drafted and passed the Federal Constitution of 1988. This document was meant to structure a democracy from their long-standing military rule. The country’s economy improved and quickly became the envy of the southern hemisphere. The citizens of Brazil were thriving even better than they ever thought possible. Oh…but there is always a price and it became obvious in short order what that price was. They assumed that the government could be the ever-generous provider.
The Brazilian Constitution is 77,000 words long and is literally packed with social, economic and political mandates. It goes so far as to dictate a forty-four-hour work week for all businesses and mandatory retirement ages; 65 years of age for men and 60 for women. Since the passage of this Constitution, the federal spending has nearly doubled. Inflation has slowly but continuously crept up mainly because the document stipulates that the purchasing power of their federal benefits (health care and pensions) shall forever be preserved. In other words, the legal document that should have provided the citizens lasting freedom and prosperity is choking the life out of the very system they have come to depend on; primarily due to too much government reliance.
Now let’s contrast their document to ours. Our Constitution is only 4,400 words and that is after two hundred and thirty-one years of existence and twenty-seven revisions. Already we can see that less is more. In addition, our Constitution does not mandate or call for the enforcement of economic demands. As a matter of fact, it pushes those social, economic and political pressures into local and state governments so that those nearest to the issue can solve the problems. As to model the national document, each State has their own constitution which allows for an interesting addition found in all 50 state constitutions; the mention of a divine power. The U.S. Constitution never explicitly mentions God, but the same cannot be said of the 50 state constitutions. In fact, God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each state constitution and nearly 200 times overall, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. We are indeed, “One Nation Under God!”
Quoting our Founding Fathers in the opening words of this great document, “We the People” make the difference and we the people have the power to control our government not the other way around. Our early leaders were not lifelong politicians, they were hardworking men of high moral character who understood that the government didn’t exist to benefit anyone; only a foundation to rest each society upon. These brave pioneers did not agree on everything, they did not all like one another and some of them were uneducated; making bad decisions. But they all had one thing in common, as should the citizens of today, being of one mind; the belief that we are creating a Country that allows for every citizen to have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
What adds to today’s confusion is that for a Country founded on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness; each political party no longer demonstrates these three rights in all that they do. I find it extremely odd that certain parties support the death of the innocent, unwanted and unborn solely on the auspices of purging a past mistake of the parents. These same parties also rebuke the monuments of our ancestors, in the hope of wiping away their mistake as well. Both actions testify to the selfishness of the parties and their reproach to the rights we should unitedly hold dear. As our Constitution illustrates, through the lack of an abundance of words; it is not the words the people say that hold them guilty but the actions they take.
May God continue to bless these United States of America!
If this is my last post, I want all to know there was only one purpose for all that I have written; to have made a positive difference in the lives of others.
Anthony “Tony” Boquet, the author of “The Bloodline of Wisdom, The Awakening of a Modern Solutionary”