The lost civics lesson

Notes From the Desk: No. 25 - 2024.02.12

Notes From the Desk are periodic posts that summarize recent topics of interest or other brief notable commentary that might otherwise be a tweet or note.

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The lost civics lesson

The government's purpose is to acquire power and defend it at all costs. No matter what rules you make, they will all be secondary to that prime directive.

Everything else you observe will begin to make sense through this perspective. The prime directive is not something that is written into law but is an emergent property of human behavior and societal structure.

Never make the mistake that you have properly quelled that prime directive with eloquently worded law. If you forget it is there, it will quickly consume you and everything else.

Liberty is a constant battle against the innate nature of the state. The state never relents. Every moment liberty is not defended, another freedom is lost.

This basic tendency of government can not be overstated. It is the primary failing of most people's understanding. It is a beast constantly and aggressively seeking to escape restraint and will use all means possible to do so. It does not restrain itself. It was the duty of the public to be the ever-watchful eye.

… a mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments, is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government …

James Madison - The Federalist Papers: No. 48

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No compass through the dark exists without hope of reaching the other side and the belief that it matters …