Looking at the Bill of Rights – Part Sixteen – Afterward

This series has been very enlightening to me in the respect to how much the Bill of Rights stands as probably one of the best statements of keeping government out of the life of a citizen and protecting the citizen from government action.  Everything in it stands to take side with the citizen against the government.  If there is a question between who has power, the people or the government, the people should win every single time according to the Bill of Rights.  The Bill of Rights is absolutely suspicious of government power and its whole aim is to curb and keep in bounds that could not cross into the lives of citizen, the rights of people and the rights of the states to govern themselves as they see fit.  The federal power was to be limited and very specific and the Bill of Rights was designed to make sure the people and states had the power to stop the federal government from violating that.

The real problem I see is that current federal powers simply ignore the limitations of power the Bill of Rights imposes.  There are very few amendments in the Bill of Rights that you can’t point to a federal law that violates them.  Those that seek power often have no desire to limit their power so the Constitution does not mean much to them other than an obstacle to find a way around it.  The problem is the idealistic nature of the Founding Fathers about human beings but their disdain for government because of the temptation to power does not seem to translate in the modern world where we trust government but not individuals.

The hope I see is perhaps some will look at this understanding and say to themselves that perhaps the Founding Fathers had a better understanding of human beings and government.  That power and temptation to power is more dangerous than the individual exercising their rights is not something that should foreign to the American mindset.  The Bill of Rights stand, if for nothing else,  to remind of us of this fact.  I wish it was more than that but it requires force of character and giving people the force to back their rights.  Right now I think things are changing but it may take some time to first stop the trend to circumvent the Constitution and then reverse the trend so that the Bill of Rights stands to keep government power from growing and then causes it to shrink.  The Bill of Rights will only matter as long as people are willing to fight for it.

IMHO