They Did Not Foresee

by

       M. Richard Maxson

      Given the nature of humans, factions are inevitable. As long as men hold different opinions, have different amounts of wealth, and own different amounts of property, they will continue to fraternize with those people who are most similar to them. Men of greater ability and education tend to possess more property than those of lesser ability. Humanity is not equal. And never will be. Property is divided unequally due to many circumstances and, in addition, there are many different kinds of property. People have different interests depending upon the kind of property they own. For example, the interests of landowners differ from those of business owners. Governments must not only protect the conflicting interests of property owners but also must successfully regulate the conflicts between those with and without property.

      There are only two ways to control a faction: to remove its causes and to control its effects. There are only two ways to remove the causes of a faction: destroy liberty or give every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests. That, unless you agree with Progressives, is impossible and destroying liberty is, as President Madison stated, "a cure worse then the disease itself." The causes of factions are thus part of the nature of man, so we must accept their existence and deal with their effects. The government created by the Constitution controls the damage caused by such factions.

      It was historical that the Founders established a constitutional republic because pure or direct democracies cannot possibly control factious conflicts. This is because the strongest and largest faction dominates and there is no way to protect weak factions against the actions of an obnoxious individual or a strong majority. Tyranny of the majority, under the banner of democracy, is something the Founding Fathers DID NOT WANT. Direct democracies cannot effectively protect personal and property rights as the constitution does and have always been characterized by conflict.

      We, the people, should be involved in our government for it is the people that hold the power. This ideal plan of government, when it was adopted, was done with the hope that the men elected to office will be wise and good men,­ the best of America. Theoretically, those who govern should be the least likely to sacrifice the public good for temporary conditions, but the opposite could happen and has. Men who are members of particular factions or who have prejudices or evil motives, might by intrigue or corruption, win elections and then betray the interests of the people. 

      This is why a well informed active citizenry is essential to maintain liberty. This the Founding Fathers knew. This is not the case today. They did not foresee the many factions being united for a temporary fix to their grievances. They did not foresee men with great wealth funding factions, whose agenda is placed above their country, to unite under the political theory of Socialist Communism. They did not foresee others with great wealth take over and control all information in the nation allowing only “their truth” to be seen. They warned, but did not foresee, a political party that subverts and distorts the original meaning of the constitution to fit their personal wants and only respects our past by waving it in the air as a prop while screaming YOU are a threat to THEIR democracy. If allowed to continue, this will be a sad end to our constitutional republic.