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It is our intention to lay the intellectual foundation for the next American revolution. We need to correct mainly errors of omission in the Constitution, things that seemed too obvious to write down.
Any government is based on simple ideas, mainly winner take all. A few rousing songs, a leader with catchy sound bytes, and "tradition" provide the cover for looting a nation. Our Founding Fathers knew there had to be a better way, and they gave it their best shot. After winning our freedom, they gave up the power to Patriot and Tory alike. Their experiment succeeded at first, but the hindsight of 200 years clearly shows that the Constitution will not enforce itself. Almost all the freedoms they fought and died for have been lost or severely compromised. The Second Amendment is probably the most battered, with bills before Congress to simply abolish it.
Yet, our Founding Fathers were on the right track. Their basic ideas worked, and would still be working had they not been corrupted. Their simple Republic has become a democratic monster. The clock cannot be turned back, we can only go forward. A revolution eventually puts an end to government failures and marks a new beginning for better or worse. If we want a better beginning, we must look to the future and learn from the past.
The single most important of these is to protect the Republic by specifying voter qualifications, so that democracy is forever forbidden. Our present government was elected, so we must go to the very root of that problem: the voting booth. What happens in that booth determines our government and our freedom. It is no coincidence that we feel so frustrated in the booth. The best men are not on the ballot, and if they were they could not be elected. This is no accident; it is deliberately planned by those who wish to control us.
Ballot access is critical. This country does not belong to Democratic and Republican political parties and they should not be given a free inside track to the ballot. In fact, political parties should not even be mentioned on the ballot. The vote should be for individuals whether or not they belong to a party. The voting process must be so tightly held by the people that there is no room for party hacks to move in.
The basic concept of the American Republic was small limited government, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The failure of the American experiment is a failure to follow that concept. We cannot improve on it, but with hindsight we can suggest safeguards that may preserve it better or longer. "Limited" and "people" are the keys; how you define these words shapes the entire government. The Bill of Rights was supposed to set the limits, and the voters (property owners, "Freeholders") defined the people. Democracy was rejected. Article 4 Section 4 guarantees to every state a republican form of government. Today, the feds forbid a republic and enforce a democratic terror.
We have the government that we elect. If we want to improve the government, we must first improve the election process and we must improve the voters. The only way to improve voters is to disenfranchise the worst, so the average goes up. Voters must meet qualifications; this is what a republic is all about. These qualifications determine the quality of government. Currently, there are no qualifications and no quality in government. To safeguard voter qualifications, we propose three separate systems of voters, called
Because the Second Amendment guarantees the rest, and it has been trampled more than the rest, the reader will find many new safeguards for it. The best safeguard is tying it directly to the vote, ie, only armed people are allowed to vote. Not only armed, but with some degree of skill in the use of arms. The higher the degree of voting, the more skill should be required. For example, 95% of the people might pass the test for Taxpayer voters, 90% might pass the Jurors test, and 75% the Electors test. If the Republic is to be restored, only gun owners can restore it. In fact, if only 25% of gun owners would rise up against the government, the revolution would be over in a week. This document is clearly intended to encourage gun owners to take direct action.
Requiring skill at arms is nothing new in America. From the earliest days of the Colonies, militia practice was a requirement for all able bodied men; even those not eligible to vote had to participate in the militia and bring their own gun and ammo.
Clearly, putting all emphasis on the Second Amendment would be foolish; the Bill of Rights stands as a solid unit and no part of it can be compromised. Even the third amendment, prohibiting quartering troops in private homes, must be kept although the government has shown no tendency lately to violate it.
In order to assure that the voters understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights, a literacy test should be required. This would be a test covering the content and meaning of these basic documents; what is required or forbidden.
Literacy tests are also nothing new to America. When the vote was extended beyond freeholders, something had to be done to restrict those who had no idea of what the Constitution was about. Thus entered literacy tests. When literacy tests were abolished by federal dictate in violation of Article 4 Section 4, the voters ignorant of the Bill of Rights elected Senators hostile to the Constitution.
Putting any (or all) political party in charge of elections is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Everything related to elections should be handled by the people, outside of the government. The jury system seems best suited for this task. They could handle all voter registration and qualification, and the elections as well, charging a small fee at each step to cover expenses. The fees would also discourage vote buying.
Some thought must be given to make vote fraud impractical, if not impossible. Any system that does not allow an audit is open to fraud. It must be possible to recount the votes, and check the vote cast by any voter. Eliminating the secret ballot would solve the problem, with social pressure preventing punishment of a voter for how he voted. Town meetings worked this way for ages, some even today. Later, we will outline a possible scenario for a secret ballot with some possible checks and balances.
In addition to solving the problems of the voting booth, we must clarify and expand the Bill of Rights, and provide a mechanism to enforce the Constitution. The Jury system is probably the best way to provide that enforcement. Future revisions to the Constitution must be beyond the reach of the government. We suggest that this be accomplished by the Electorate, probably using the Jury system as a check and balance.
The reader will surely disagree with some of the ideas presented here. Bear in mind that these ideas are the warp and woof of a fabric. The pattern is more important than any single idea. Changes should be first addressed that repair mistakes; fix the flaws that we missed. Keep the concept simple and strong, but do not hesitate to put a patch wherever wear and strain threaten most. Any obvious excess in the present government warns us to erect doubled safeguards for the future.
This is not intended to be an idle exercise, a utopia for a theorist. It should be a working document to define a future government. When and if the document is complete, the revolution should follow this document because it is the best available. It should define the causes and cures in a well thought out, but simple, manner. If the common people cannot readily read and understand it, it is a failure. Most people can recognize a simple truth when it is put to them. It is our job to provide that simple truth.
Send your ideas, comments, questions to [email protected] .
Nick Hull, < [email protected] >
Secretary, Committees of Correspondence
2702 Kimbrell Road, Lenoir City, Tennessee 37772
865-856-6185
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