There was a time when I wrote an equally obscure blog entitled "Bulimic Rabbit Herders and The Men Who Love Them." This other vehicle was a means for me to voice my concerns about the myriad issues which, ironically, persist today. Finding fault with much of what I saw around me, I wondered if there were a way to improve upon the system under which we in the United States live. After much contemplation, I realized that we were an incredibly fortunate nation to have had the insightful fathers who founded our republic.
While these brilliant people were provided few examples of freedom in their time, they crafted a system which emphasized individual liberty without ignoring the often corrosive influence of human nature. The challenge presented to the founders was to establish a system under which a central government could operate without impinging on the rights of the citizens.
Considering the constitution as the most basic tool of this system, we witness a document which establishes a refined bicameral legislative structure balanced by both judiciary and executive powers, wresting centralized power from each component to balance it within the whole. The genius of this system is it's emphasis on limitations. Knowing that their system must inherently be populated and maintained by humans, the founders hoped these restrictions would stifle the influence of human nature.
For it is our nature, as with all things, to seek the path of least resistance. Our species, while possessing intellectual potential never seen before on this planet, is no less tied to its base instincts than any other creature that lives and breeds. We are lured and intoxicated by power for it is through power that we find security. Through security we find the path of least resistance. The founders, understanding this, ensured that this drive for power was limited by legal mechanisms established in the constitution.
Tanstaafl.
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