When the founding fathers came up with the Constitution, they set lines in the sand for what the federal government can and cannot do. These lines are very important, once you start moving them, they’re likely to continue to move. The concept is similar to raising children; setting rules can add structure to their lives, but when you start letting them bend the rules, it’s not hard to imagine that they’ll soon just ignore all the rules completely.
We find that this has been the case over the years, with incremental changes in the functions of the government. As Ben Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Some of the most severe violations of the Constitution have been made under the guise of “safety” or “emergencies.” As White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” The government loves to pounce on crises and carry out actions they would otherwise have never been able to carry out.
There are so many examples of this, but let me at least go through a few. The first one that comes to mind is the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII — what a huge fundamental violation of the Constitution that was. It’s hard to imagine that the U.S. government would have been able to get away with interning people based on their race outside of wartime and without the claim of making Americans “safer.” The Constitution however, is not to be suspended in times of war. Similarly, with today’s Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, we see a modern example of our government interning people without due process.
Another recent example of blatant violations of the Constitution in the name of safety is all the internal border patrol checkpoints that we have, that are somehow allowed to be anywhere within 100 miles of the border. Now I’m all for border checkpoints, but having a “border” checkpoint inside the United States and not on any border is clearly unconstitutional. The attitude seems to be that if they’re effective, then they’re okay. That sentiment seems to also apply to the TSA body scanners, which take images of peoples’ naked bodies. I don’t know about you, but I’m not okay with being virtually strip-searched. There are better ways to keep airplanes secure and without compromising passengers’ dignity.
Not all bad incremental changes deal with our physical security though. The housing crisis comes to mind with all the bailouts, even for GM. Since when was government supposed to (or more importantly, allowed to) give public money to private companies who were going through rough times (up to and including otherwise going bankrupt)?
Sometimes people think failed policies won’t directly affect them. Take our failed drug war as an example; if you don’t do any illegal drugs you might think the war on drugs isn’t a problem. The fact is that you are helping to fund it though, and by you not standing up against the war on drugs you are allowing cops to mount up in their paramilitary gear and go after drug users, with people (cops, criminals, and innocents) losing their lives in the process.
We must remember that as the Declaration of Independence says, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and for a government to be legitimate it must have the consent of the governed. If a government does not have the consent of the governed, it is the duty of the governed to speak up for themselves and right the wrongs. When too many people turn too many blind eyes to abuses, those abuses can grow in both number and severity. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to make sure that we are governed justly.
I’m guessing not everybody who reads this agrees with all of it, but I’m sure nearly everybody can at least point to one current abuse of government power. Imagine how much better off we all would be if people took just one topic upon themselves to try to improve. What a difference we could all make.