Sein und Schein (Part XII)
A Wayward World in Which Appearances Command Being
A free spirit is not someone who struggles to overthrow his oppressor, rather he views him as a hindrance to be gotten around, pushed out of the way, or destroyed, if negotiation fails.
No, I am not a libertarian, because history is a tale of organized groups who would rather take by force what is not theirs than perform the hard labor necessary to produce what they would prefer to take in the absence of voluntary exchange. In the mind of those who organize and lead such groups, it is more noble to fight than to work. This, of course, compels those who work to hire still others who would fight in an effort to protect that for which they have labored and are now compelled to defend.
The whole idea of American republican government and democratically held elections was to prevent the violent overthrow of one group by another. When we ratified the US Constitution it was in the belief that we were all citizens of the same nation, who despite our sometimes grave differences, agreed on certain fundamental rules to settle them.
In order to overcome these forceful overthrows we created special forums in which our differences could be negotiated and formalized into laws that could be voted upon and ultimately rejected or approved. Once every two years the People’s house would be reconstituted, and once every six years a portion of the States were required to reconstitute their portion of the Senate. And finally, once every four years the President and Vice President were decided anew. Obviously much has changed since our founding, but the basic idea remains the same. The reigns of power are passed peacefully from one group to the next, from one individual to the next, in the absence of violence and massive property destruction.
This voluntary agreement of the several States and their respective citizenries has enabled us to stay together for so long. Between 1792 when our Constitution was ratified and 1861 when Abraham Lincoln effectively declared war on the seceded States and marched uninvited into the State of Virginia, there were 15 different presidential administrations and numerous major political struggles that were repeatedly settled through congressional debate and the casting of ballots in democratically held elections.
Until the defeat of the Confederacy and successful assassination of President Lincoln, America had experienced only one assassination attempt on a sitting US President, and it was a miserable failure. After Lincoln’s assassination there have been four successful assassinations and twelve unsuccessful attempts — this is to say nothing of the numerous foiled plots. Indeed, before Lincoln we settled our differences through political discourse, lively political campaigns, and ultimately democratically held elections.
Well, yes, our founding fathers were naïve to believe that political parties (factions) would not evolve — this, despite their having gotten most everything else correct. They warned us against the evolution of such factions, but seemed foolish to believe that their formation was not inevitable. Still, with the exception of Lincoln’s devastating War of Consolidation, America has watched time and time again as one political party peacefully removed another political party from office, because the American people yearned for change on the one hand, and had agreed on the peaceful settlement of our differences, on the other. We were one people with a common set of principles — principles that are still in place, if only we would exercise them.
Have you ever abandoned an idea or activity, or even a thing? Then, discovered that it was missing and wondered why you abandoned it? And, have you never decided to revive and restore what was missing to its former self? Perhaps its restoration was somewhat different, perhaps it was quite the same, but in either case you filled the vacuum that its absence had created with something very much akin to what it was that you were previously missing. Is this not where we in America have arrived today? Simply everyone has not yet awakened to the notion that, indeed, something is missing.
Some view the MAGA movement as merely another swing in an endless oscillation from Left to Right and back again. Others view the movement as a choice between conservatism and progressive liberalism — a fallen generation clinging to an ancient tradition, fearful of a new age, and skeptical of those who would remake the world into some metaphysical, post-modern, virtual reality. Still others view the MAGA movement as opposition to a globalist agenda, one world government, and the final breath of an archaic notion of the nation-state. And then, there are those who view the movement as a Christian revival and a celebration of withered Western civilization in the face of Satan. Is it not likely some combination of all of these?
Then too, I prefer to think of the MAGA movement as a people in search of their lost identity — a people who was set adrift by Lincoln’s War of Consolidation, and who has been floundering ever since. We have been so focused on liberating the oppressed that we have forgotten what it means to be truly free.
In liberty,
Roddy A. Stegemann, First Hill, Seattle 98104
Author of Mount Cambitas - The Story of Real Money, “A Call for the Restoration of Monetary Order” (Parts I and II), the Substack series “Let’s End the Money Racket”.