by Dr. Edwin Vieira
[The following is the full text of an address presented to the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies at its 2009 Constitution Day conference.]
The Tenth-Amendment Resolutions from State Legislatures, the Tea Parties, the Town Hall Meetings, and other manifestations of WE THE PEOPLE’S feedupidness with monkey-business as usual in the Disgrace of Columbia—even the massive congregation on the Mall last September—are some of the most enlightening, encouraging, and energizing developments that American patriots have witnessed in a long time. For these events are all premised on the idea: “We don’t want you!”—that WE THE PEOPLE do not want any more, indeed they demand a great deal less, interference in their lives from rogue public officials in the General Government.
These events notwithstanding, the problem remains that too many among WE THE PEOPLE will start but then stop right there, with “We don’t want you!” That is not enough.
The complaint “We don’t want you!” needs to go further, to the resolve, “We won’t have you!” — that WE THE PEOPLE intend to rid themselves of the General Government’s interference.
And to make this resolve effective, WE THE PEOPLE need to design and put into effect remedial action, so that they can say with finality: “We don’t need you!”
The sequence must be—
(i) We don’t NEED you!” which makes it realistic to say:
(ii) We don’t WANT you!” which combined with the ability to make WE THE PEOPLE’S wants effective will lead to the necessary and sufficient action:
(iii) We won’t HAVE you!” and finally will yield the desired result:
(iv) We are RID of you!”
If WE THE PEOPLE have the ability they can give “teeth” to the desire, take the necessary action, and thereby accomplish their goal.
But what will all of this require?
• WE THE PEOPLE need to create actual workable institutions that take advantage of the political and legal position THE PEOPLE hold—i.e., as the ultimate sovereigns.
• WE THE PEOPLE need to create actual workable institutions that take advantage of the economic resources THE PEOPLE command—that THE PEOPLE are the true source of all real wealth in this country, and are in actual physical possession of most of it.
True enough, the Establishment holds bundles of paper claimsto wealth, many (if not most) of them generated through the unconstitutional Federal Reserve System. But the insuperable problem for the Establishment will be how to collect on those claims if WE THE PEOPLE simply refuse to honor them. Anyone in the paper-currency racket who doubts that these claims can be declared unenforceable should read the Supreme Court’s decision in Craig v. Missouri, 29 U.S. (4 Peters) 410 (1830).
• WE THE PEOPLE need to create actual workable institutions that are politically, economically, and legally independent of the General Government:
Institutions that can compete with the faulty and fraudulent mechanisms that rogue officials in the General Government have foisted on this country in the key areas of economic and political control, particularly in the areas of (i) money and banking and (ii) what is called “homeland security”.
Institutions that can replace these fraudulent control-mechanisms with proper means to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”. And
Institutions that will enable WE THE PEOPLE to defend themselves against retaliation from rogue officials in the General Government and from the private centers of multinational economic power.
In sum, WE THE PEOPLE must combine their economic resources and abilities with political and legal authority in large-scale organizations that will reflect the power inherent in numbers.
This cannot be done by or through the General Government at the present time, because the General Government is the main locus of this country’s problem, not the source of any solution for them.
It cannot be done through political parties, because parties (along with other factions and special-interest groups) are the control-mechanisms in the “divide and conquer” strategy the Establishment employs to prevent WE THE PEOPLE from asserting their political sovereignty in their own interest.
It cannot be done by individuals or private groups alone, primarily because: (i) private individuals and groups enjoy no independent legal authority; and (ii) there is probably no way to create a sufficiently large and effective private operation in any State, let alone throughout the entire country, in time.
It cannot be done by the State governments alone, because it is not simply a political question of governmental finance and administration, but will require a revamping of the entire private economies in each State, too.
Therefore, it will require both (i) participation by the State governments, because they have the legal authority and the ability to mobilize people in sufficient numbers, and (ii) mass action by WE THE PEOPLE as a whole.
The only establishment or institution that combines all of these elements is “the Militia of the several States”, the “well regulated Militia” that the Second Amendment tells us are “necessary to the security of a free State”.
But a true constitutional “well regulated Militia” exists in not one State in this Union today.
So, WE THE PEOPLE need to revitalize “the Militia of the several States” in order to regain and retain popular control over State governments, and through them to regain and retain control over the two fundamental powers of sovereignty: (i) the Power of the Purse—i.e., currency and credit, and (ii) the Power of the Sword—i.e., community self-defense.
Revitalization of the Militia will enable WE THE PEOPLE to exercise community self-reliance and ultimately true self-government in “a free State” with a sound free-market economy.
Americans need to combine all of the following elements in a single plan for mass action:
1. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States”.
·The Second Amendment instructs every American that “[a] well regulated Militia” is “necessary to the security of a free State”—not just “useful”, and certainly not “optional”, but“necessary”. And not “necessary” in only some general sense, but specifically with respect to “the security of a free State”—which means that, according to “the supreme Law of the Land” itself, the very survival of constitutional freedom in this country depends upon the Militia.
The Constitution identifies no other establishment, institution, or entity as “necessary” for this vital purpose, or for any other purpose.
So why is not revitalization of the Militia, immediately if not sooner, “job one” on the agenda of every constitutionalist? How can patriots continue to deny in their actions what the Constitution tells them is “necessary” for the maintenance of constitutional government? Americans may say that they have faith in the Constitution—but faith without works is dead; and the Constitution is not self-executing.
·The purpose of revitalizing the Militia is to combine all the elements of each State’s “homeland security”—including police, emergency response, and so on—under the Militia, in order to obviate “top down” control by the police-state apparatus being set up through the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., and its various satellites, transmission-belts, and fellow travelers around the country. Revitalization of the Militia will return control to whom it belongs, in the hands of WE THE PEOPLE directly, with:
(i) total organizing, arming, disciplining, and training of THE PEOPLE to handle any emergency;
(ii) State production and provision of arms, ammunition, and accoutrements for the Militia—with all individuals to possess their arms and ammunition, whenever obtained from whatever source, as part of their Militia service—thus ending all of the General Government’s oppressive “gun control”; and, perhaps of most immediate importance,
(iii) assignment to the Militia of oversight over all new institutions of “economic homeland security” within the State.
2. Adoption of an alternative currency.
This is an idea which began in New Hampshire, and subsequently spread to other States, including Indiana, Colorado, and Montana. An alternative-currency bill has yet to be reported out of committee in any State legislature. But as the national economy melts down, the pressure for serious consideration and then passage of such a bill will become overwhelming, simply because there is no workable alternative consistent with the maintenance of America’s national economic sovereignty that can be put into operation in time.
The alternative-currency system will require not just the State to participate through its own public financial operations, but also will require every individual member of the Militia—that is, every able-bodied adult man and women—to participate in his or her own private economic transactions, in order to move both the State’s government and the State’s private economy as quickly as possible out from under the control of the Federal Reserve System and the rotten financial power-structure of the New York City-Washington, D.C. axis of fraud.
The actual silver and gold will be held: (i) in a State vault controlled by the Militia, and (ii) in the hands of Militiamen (the private holding of silver and gold will be as important as the private possession of arms). And,
Experts drawn from and subject to supervision by the Militia will be in charge of or will provide oversight for the system.
3. Establishment of a State Credit Exchange.
This Exchange will deal solely in so-called “real bills” financed with actual deposits of the alternative currency (no “fractional reserves”). This will be necessary in order to protect the State’s private economy from retaliation by the multinational financial power-structure, which will doubtlessly attempt to cut off credit to the State’s businessmen, farmers, and others, so as to sabotage the alternative-currency system.
Experts drawn from and subject to supervision by the Militia will be in charge of or will provide oversight for this Exchange, too.
4. Additional areas of concern and action could include:
Food independence and security through the suppression of multinational corporate agribusinesses.
Energy independence and security through mobilization of local resources and radical innovation in the provision of energy.
Assertion of local control over land and water usage, and other natural resources.
…et cetera…
All of these arrangements will be statutorily structured as functions of the State government and thereby extensions of direct popular sovereignty, and will be administered through the Militia, thus coming under the Second and Tenth Amendments’ guarantees of reserved powers to the States and the people.
5. Considerations for the selection of an initial State in which to bring this project to fruition.
In the nature of things, the necessary legislation will have to be drafted one State at a time. (No “one size fits all” bill is possible). Inevitably, therefore, this work will require the commitment of a great deal of time, effort, and expertise. Before such a commitment can be expected, let alone requested, of anyone, adequate groundwork must be laid:
There must be an extensive local grass-roots “freedom movement” in existence in that State and prepared specifically to promote the reform legislation.
There must be a solid legislative caucus in existence in that State’s legislature, preferably in each house (where a bicameral legislature exists).
There must be a workable plan, ready to implement and adequately funded, for mobilizing large numbers of activistsfrom across the country to work in the targeted State to promote the reform legislation.
It is too late for parochialism on this subject: Everyone throughout this country has an interest in seeing this project succeed in the first State that undertakes it, because that State will be the exemplar for the others.
No one can deny that a crisis of overwhelming proportions is overtaking this country at an ever-accelerating speed. And each day appears darker than the one before it. But that in itself is a cause for hope—because, as the old saying goes, it is always darkest just before the dawn.
© 2009 Edwin Vieira, Jr. – All Rights Reserved
This new tea party bears no resemblance to the one that began a year ago as a reaction to the collapse of our financial system and the subsequent bailout. That movement of ragtag and unorganized libertarians, independents and conservatives was something new and unique. An authentic protest movement angered not just by the new President, Barack Obama, who had presided over the bailouts but the president who started the ball rolling and whose incompetence had led to the crisis in the first place, George W. Bush.
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