Official K-Talk Blog

We the Peasants of the United States, in expectation of a perpetual increase, seek to escape justice, ensure eternal taxation, expand the empire, promote corporate welfare, and secure the blessings of debt and corruption to ourselves and our politicians, do mock and undermine the Constitution of the United States of America. [updated text of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America]

At this point you might be thinking that this is just another angry rant against how We the People have been marginalized, manipulated and/or oppressed. But when I use the term, “We the Peasants”, I mean much more than to simply draw attention to our current relationship with the ruling class. Instead, I want to draw attention to the fact that it is not “they” who have turned us into peasants, but we who have sought to become peasants and demanded that our public servants become our rulers. As former President James Garfield said:
"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption."
The government and its agents could not have achieved their current level of power, corruption, incompetence, etc., unless We the People allowed it. Often we have demanded it. How many times have we elected the lesser of evils? How many times has a person of character and principles been ignored because they are “unelectable” (i.e. not charismatic enough or simply belonging to the wrong political party)?
Pragmatism has brought us where we are today. Not willing to suffer a political loss for “our side” has led to us electing men and women of more ambition than nobility of spirit. In other words, when given the chance to vote, we elect the candidate who seeks to be king because he inspires us with propaganda, and we ignore the candidate who seeks to serve honestly because he is less pleasing to the senses. Now we are reaping our reward.
No men could be trusted more with the powers of government than our nation’s founders, and yet they limited the power they gave to themselves. Checks and balances were included to ensure that the government would not quickly exceed the bounds created for it. Why did they do such a thing? To protect this nation against its own people. As Daniel Webster insightfully stated:
"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions."
Human nature is our own worst enemy, a concept that is contrary to the culture of our day. Self-restraint and self-denial have become something of a joke in the mainstream, as evidenced by the ridiculous levels of debt of the average citizen as well as the government. As John Adams famously said:
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
How could a moral and religious people justify shouldering their children with 10--no 11--wait, wait...soon to be 12,000,000,000,000 dollars in debt(not counting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid obligations)?
For the Constitution to function properly, it requires that We the People desire a government that is not responsible for our standard of living, but only responsible to protect our rights. It requires that We the People are principled enough to take responsibility for our successes and our failures. If our government has been treating us like peasants, it is because we have been acting like peasants. If the government has not been held accountable, it’s because We the People have neglected our responsibility to hold it accountable. Just getting mad at “them” won’t solve anything, and can even make matters worse if the anger is acted on in unproductive ways.
Even if every corrupt and/or incompetent politician was removed from office today, who would take their place? More of the same because that’s who the majority of the people support (how do you think the current corrupt/incompetent politicians got their jobs?). Unless we reform ourselves, our values, and our desires so that our actions restore government to its rightful station rather than simply tearing it down (or providing those in power excuses to expand it further), any “uprising” would simply be a counterproductive peasant revolt.
Until we decide as a people to stand on our own, we will kneel before our government and deserve the moniker “We the Peasants.”

Posted By Scott Arland