The Song of the Syren

"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. ... Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not?" --Patrick Henry

si⋅ren [sahy-ruhn] syren (alternate spelling)

Classical Mythology, one of several sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing.

Throughout history, civilizations have been seduced by the Song of the Syren. Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Amin, Saddam, Franco, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Ngirumpatse, on and on and on. What these despots had in common was a song that was very soothing to their population. Typically, these monsters raise their heads at a time of economic collapse or civil unrest, or both.

The song is always the same: a promise to bring their respective country/state/region back from the abyss, a firm commitment to be a leader for the people. The lyrics reflect a sort of hope to these people who have none. The tune always begins with a melodic, yet hypnotic tempo that sets their collective minds at ease. One could imagine a symphonic largess filled with strings and woodwinds. Now that the new “leader” has the attention and support of the crowd, the tempo begins to change.

It speeds up, with more percussion, a marching band in motion. He selects his most ardent supporters to stand firm by his side, the volume of the music increases, the cadence much more distinct, but the theme has morphed into a much darker and sardonic one. Cello and bass overtake the violins and flutes. The Song of the Syren ends abruptly, every time, with a staccato-like finality.

As the director leaves the stage, the scenes unfolds with timeless duplicity; thousands of bloated corpses floating down the Kagera River in Rwanda, mountains of rotting bodies at Auschwitz, fields filled with the skulls of intellectuals in Cambodia, millions starved to death in the Ukraine, countless dead during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. And so it goes.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant -- and free ... it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson

The song is always the same. Those that are in need or in a state of despair hear the seductive notes as a solution that they perhaps did not hear the day before. The messiah has come. Never again will they have to worry about war and famine, disease and pestilence for the savior has arrived and sings the song of salvation up until the point when the realization of oppression and genocide appears. By then it is too late.

We have had the good fortune here in the U.S. to have had a group of men who studied and understood the ramifications of what such regimes had to offer its citizens. After years and years of debate, the U.S. Constitution was born, and has outlived countless dictators and despots. Why? Personal freedom and the right to choose our own individual destinies. It all boils down to choices we are permitted to make on a daily basis. The decisions we make are either right, wrong of indifferent. Some can impact our lives in such a negative fashion that we may never be able to dig out. These choices are being taken away bit by bit.

"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."--Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

Today my toilet allows me one gallon per flush. I’m not supposed to fill up my car until after 6:00 PM if the air quality index is in the red zone. I can’t decide whether to smoke or not smoke in the bowling alley because the state has decided I cannot. My guns must be registered or deemed to be illegal. I don’t have choice which assault rifle to purchase, or whether or not I can smoke a Havana. My insurance company chooses for me what doctor to see and where to go for treatment. I can’t make a decision to carry shampoo on an airplane. I’m not allowed to make a choice on whether or not my Federal government spends us into oblivion.

"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition." --Thomas Jefferson

We, as a country, could fall into that same hypnotic state, like sleepwalkers. Lack of due diligence on the part of the rest of us could be deadly. We must stay focused, keep our eye on history, and to be forever committed to the cause, and that is the restoration of government to its rightful owners; we the people. If we lose sight of that, the U.S. could become the Late, Great United States.

The Ukrainians or Jews or Cambodians or Rwandans didn’t see it coming either. They listened to the song. They were attracted to the lyrics. They loved the beat. It was easy and pleasant to dance to. What separates us from them is a unique document, firm resolve, and commitment to turn our ears from the music. At least I hope we still have enough Americans that believe to maintain the necessary diligence to turn back any attempts to further degrade the freedoms we take for granted, for, after all, the song remains the same.

“There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union

And demanded equal rights.

"The oaks are just too greedy;

We will make them give us light."

Now there's no more oak oppression,

For they passed a noble law,

And the trees are all kept equal

By hatchet, axe, and saw.”-

Neil Peart (Rush)

Happy Bill of Rights Day

“We the people.........” three words that changed the course of human history as none had done before.

As a group of forty two delegates sat in Philadelphia, all from different regions of the American colonies, from different cultures and ancestry, in what would become Independence Hall, they had but one purpose: to draft a document that would redefine government as the world had known it since the dawn of civilization.

The founders and framers understood through painful lessons of history that the monarchies and kingdoms and papal edicts were a study of what not to do. By the very nature of their existence, these forms of governing were inherently tyrannical and oppressive. By the whims of kings and queens and clergy, freedoms could be erased if those in power “felt like it.”

The Church of England had the power to arrest, detain, imprison, and execute those who spoke or wrote anything contrary to the mandates of the

church.

The Spanish Inquisition is a stark and frightening example of what Papal decree wrought on the populace.

Commoners paid enormously for the right to feed their families, for the kings of the time took whatever they felt they needed or wanted.

“.....In order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility........”

The Constitution was written in direct defiance to the traditional European form of government. Self government was just a theory, as it really hadn’t been attempted on the scale in which the founders proposed. Imagine a government “by the people”, a government which “governs by the consent of the governed”. What a concept to consider. John Locke’s vision of a “social contract”,

considered empirically radical in the late part of the 17th century fanned the flames for the revolutionaries in the American colonies. Voltaire, Rosseau, and Locke were a few of the forward thinkers the founders relied on to draft the Declaration of Independence.

“Bills of rights are in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgments of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince. Such was "Magna Charta", obtained by the Barons, swords in hand, from King John"– Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton, being a Federalist, relied on British Common Law which did not define or quantify natural rights. He felt the Bill of Rights was unnecessary as it would limit the freedoms of the people. Federalist held the belief that the government knew what was best for the people, and the Bill of Rights would stifle central power.

During the drafting and finalization of the U.S. Constitution, there were those involved who felt the Constitution did not protect the basic liberties of the citizenry, and therefore should not be ratified. At the convention of 1787, James Madison proposed a “Bill of Rights” to ensure the freedoms that were not enumerated in the original text of the Constitution. The anti-Federalists, on the other hand, felt that a “Bill of Rights” was an absolute necessity to guarantee the freedoms not delineated in the Constitution. As Thomas Jefferson relayed in a letter to Madison:

"Half a loaf is better than no bread. If we cannot secure all our rights, let us secure what we can."

So as politics go, an honest compromise was reached to include the Ninth Amendment:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

In essence, it was a win-win for the people. Both “parties” achieved the result they were looking for, and strangely enough, good and just.

Today we celebrate the 218^th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. These ten amendments essentially expanded the liberties we all enjoy today. Without these amendments, the Federal government had the flexibility to enumerate “freedoms” in such a way to be advantageous for the power of a central government. Jefferson and Madison were correct in pushing for the inclusion of these rights. Although our contemporaries may have forgotten that they exist at all, the Bill of Rights does indeed live and thrive in our daily lives.

“A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences” – Thomas Jefferson

Conceal and Carry laws, which covers the 2^nd and 10^th amendments are a good example. The fact that there are countless religious sects and denominations takes care of the 1^st. Illegal search and seizure is questionable at best. Due process and trial by jury are another good example of rights observed on a daily basis. Cruel and unusual punishment is always a topic of contention.

By and large, the Bill of Rights was an historic addition to an already historic document. We the people need to get busy and emphasize the importance of the 10^th amendment that is to give back to the states the rights we were guaranteed, and push back on the extortion and oppressive nature of the Federal government who has methodically centralized the power that was intended to be ceded to the states.

As Libertarians, we understand that our ultimate goal is to return the government to its rightful owners. “We the people....”

As Libertarians, we understand the time is now, and the goal is just. We know this is a marathon and the journey will be long and arduous. Think about the enormity of the Bill of Rights, the effort undertaken to make it a reality, the sweat and the blood spilled to protect it, and the battle we are engaged in to maintain its relevance.

“The Bill of Rights is a born rebel. It reeks with sedition. In every clause it shakes its fist in the face of constituted authority... it is the one guaranty of human freedom to the American people.” – Frank Cobb