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Axiom 4: A Blueprint To Restore The Articles of Confederation
Ron Holland
This is the fourth of the “12 Axioms of Freedom Restoration” set forth in my introductory article on this topic, “How to Restore the West.”
The restoration of America’s first and legitimate government will not be a quick or easy task but it is necessary if we are to survive as a free people and nation. While the US should, of course, retain both the Constitution and Bill of Rights, we must return to a decentralized confederation structure of government like Switzerland or Canada and add in the right of Swiss style referendums so citizens can terminate or initiate legislation when Congress fails to follow the will of the people.
While there have been many thoughtful and needed proposals about how we need to end the Fed, return to a gold backed currency, require term limits, repeal the 16th and 17th amendments to the Constitution, require a declaration of war for military action or a balanced budget and other changes, none of these will restore limited government or our republic. I agree with these ideals and many more but all will be ineffective if we retain the federal government structure in place now.
How could any American believe a law, congressional act or even an amendment to the Constitution could in any way control or limit the powerful interests running our government today? The Bill of Rights sounds great, the balanced budget amendment or national debt limit are compelling but all are meaningless gestures to a gullible public who really want to believe in America and our government.
Many Nazi concentration camps had the slogan, “Arbeit macht frei” (work will make you free), over the entrance but the statement was simply untrue. People were in the camps because they were considered a threat to the regime whether true or not and the work was inconsequential to their incarceration. It is the same for any law or resolution garbage that comes out of our present Congress. Their proclamations might sound good and make you feel better but ultimately, everything they put out for public consumption is meaningless at best, only designed to further their agendas that never have your best interests in mind.
Restoring the Articles of Confederation Must Begin at the State Level
The centralization of government power not only leads to the looting and plundering of the taxpaying class by the parasitic class; it also slowly destroys freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas. One of the first things every tyrannical government does is to monopolize the educational system in order to brainwash the youth and bolster its political power. “As soon as Lee surrendered at Appomattox the federal government began revising history to teach that secession was illegitimate. This was all part of Lincoln’s ‘Revolution’ which overthrew the federal system of government created by the founding fathers and put into motion the forces of centralized governmental power”. -Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Our founding fathers didn’t think of themselves as citizens of the United States; rather, most correctly considered themselves citizens of their individual states first and of “these united States” second. This is why at the founding of the republic, “united” was not capitalized.
Of course, America should keep in place the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Real protection against government tyranny will be best served by state sovereignty, a decentralized confederation style national government together with direct democracy allowing citizens to enact and rescind legislation when Congress and the state legislatures refuse to follow the will of the people. How can such a form of government be put into place in the United States?
First, the citizens of each individual state must organize and create an educational and political movement. Most states will need a Confederation Caucus within their legislatures to lobby for a state convention. Of course, this will take some time to build. First, those who favor reducing the power, cost and tyranny of the federal government must run for state house and senate seats in order to increase our numbers, educate the public and gather political support.
The introduction of direct democracy measures on a state-by-state basis as well as at the federal level is a necessary prerequisite in today’s Internet world. Ballot initiatives are quite prevalent in the West but less so in the East; the South has the least direct democracy and fewest ballot initiatives.
The promotion of even temporary state sovereignty today before reuniting under an Articles style government is a misunderstood and scary prospect for many Americans. Further, a “Back to the Articles” movement will be identified as a prelude to state secession movements by the opposition in order to scare the public. But the ultimate goal should simply be a brief, temporary, peaceful, democratic withdrawal from the present centralized and failing federal government structure with a full intent to over time rejoin a restored national government in Washington – minus most federal powers, taxes and controls over internal state affairs and powers. This would be a modern day version and restoration of America’s first government, The Articles of Confederation.
Of course, there could be some states like Texas that might decide in a referendum or state constitutional convention to go it alone but I believe a majority of citizens in all states favor a return to limited government and personal liberty, fearing the powers controlling Washington, DC, rather than desire individual state independence. The opportunity for a restored confederation government of these united States is the real solution not individual state sovereignty. After all, this isn’t 1776; we have all been Americans for well over two centuries since the birth of the original republic except for a brief period during the War Between the States.
Sovereign states, when and if they withdraw from the union and later join the restored Articles of Confederation national government, could and should consider how to repudiate and rid themselves of the illegitimate portion of the US sovereign debt. They must also replace those members of Congress loyal only to Money Power and their political contributions rather than to their individual states and constituents. States should actively promote currency competition with the Federal Reserve at the state and federal level and work toward the restoration of a patriotic America-first limited and decentralized federal government instead of the monstrosity we have today, loyal only to global financial and mega corporate interests.
Finally, any Restore the Articles movement should avoid extremists from the right or left who might seek to use a movement such as this, should it develop as a means to advance their personal and political interests. Freedom and state sovereignty seeking to express the will of the people and financial responsibility and accountability is not a right, left or libertarian issue. Liberal Vermont, California and New York have just as much right to have a sovereign state government and a decentralized federal government that respects their rights and views as do the predominately conservative citizens of Utah, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Examples abound of Money Power’s success in using Cointelpro type tactics to disrupt and destroy previous efforts at movement building, often by inserting extremist and ego-driven individuals into groups at every level. It would behoove everyone determined to build a successful movement to study this history and be prepared to thwart such efforts as soon as they begin to develop.
continue article at The Daily Bell:
