Thomas Jefferson was brilliant when it came to understanding the dangers of tyrannical government. Many of his words could have been written in 21st-century America. I’d like to share two quotes from Mr. Jefferson in this column. It will become evident, from these statements, why the American Left so hates our Founding Fathers and is trying to destroy them in the eyes of our people.
Quote number one: “I think to myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. A government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have.” If Mr. Jefferson believed, 200 years ago, that the country had too much “machinery of government,” I wonder what he would think today. Well, no, I don’t. I know EXACTLY what he would think, and he wouldn’t be especially pleased with how the American experiment in limited government has happened.
Obviously, we have a much bigger country today, both geographically and in population. But it is also obvious that the American government has outgrown, exponentially, its geographical size and population of 200 years ago. Not only that but much of what the current government does cannot be found anywhere in the “defined powers” our Constitution grants it. That is probably the understatement of the year. We have allowed the federal government, of which the Supreme Court is a major branch, to define its own powers, and any time a government is allowed to do such, it will obviously grant increasing authority to itself. This was, frankly, a major cause of the country’s War Between the States, although such has been mostly lost to history due to historical revisionism and political obfuscation.
Recommended
I chuckle a little when I read Jefferson’s statement that “too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious exist.” The federal government is the largest employer in the nation, and to be able to do that, it has no choice but to soak up the wealth of its productive sectors of society to the advantage of the non-productive sectors. The tax burden on America’s “industrious” is ruinous, not just for our current generation but due to the virtually fathomless national debt for generations to come. This is nothing but irresponsible and immoral. The “Deep State” parasites, who help create parasites in society who also live on the hard work of others, are destroying the nation economically. In the eyes of the Left, the government exists “to supply everything you need.” Dependence upon government is exactly what totalitarianism is all about. The only trouble is that such a government thus becomes “big enough to take everything you have.” There is no freedom under such a system, and Jefferson and our Founders knew it.
Quote number two: “The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. The two enemies of the people are criminals and the government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” To America’s Founders, “power” in any political society is a zero-sum game—only so much exists. Government “power” is called “tyranny;” people's “power” is called “freedom.” Since the total amount of power is limited, the government can only obtain more of it by robbing the people of their liberties. Greater government power means less freedom for the citizens. Jefferson was absolutely correct when he said this is the lesson of history—as the government grows, liberty decreases. We only need to look at our own recent history to witness this.
Then Jefferson tells us that the two greatest enemies of the people are criminals and the government. Criminals, of course, exist to rob us of our personal property rights. Even Jefferson and the Founders admitted that some government is necessary to protect us from this unscrupulous, ruthless class of predators in order to secure our God-given rights (obviously, the current Democratic Party does not believe this). But Mr. Jefferson’s second “enemy” is the government itself. We have already discussed the idea that as the government grows and extends its power, it can only do so by taking away liberties from the people. Thus, a tyrannical government is a “criminal” government. It does the same thing that thieves, murderers, and other gangsters do. And just like thieves want to live as freeloaders off the hard work of the industrious members of society, so government “parasites” do the same thing. The government never produces anything of economic value; it takes, it doesn’t give. Now, again, some of this is necessary to protect our rights, and we are willing to grant the government certain powers to restrain the “other” criminal class. But just as the government passes laws to protect our rights from criminals, we have, as Mr. Jefferson noted, a “law”—the Constitution—which limits and defines the powers of the “criminal” government class. Government laws protect us from individual “criminals.” The Constitution was designed to protect us from government “criminals.” As Jefferson said, the Constitution was written to prevent the government from becoming a “legalized version” of the criminal element of society.
Unfortunately, such a system is increasingly weakening in America and being deliberately destroyed by—the government. The American government now largely controls its own powers, i.e., the Deep State, the Democratic Party, the Uniparty. Under the Democratic Party especially (as clearly seen in the cities and states they oversee), their government is not guarding citizens’ rights against criminals, and indeed, the government is increasingly ignoring the Constitutional limitations placed upon it by our Founders. This is deliberate by Democrats, of course. They hate the Constitution; they hate the Founding Fathers; they hate virtuous freedom, and they want totalitarian power. They are parasites and criminals.
Mr. Jefferson, as usual, was absolutely correct. And, as usual, we are ignoring the lessons he taught us.
Subscribe to my substack mklewis929.substack.com for recent articles and podcasts. Lots more on the Founding Fathers there. Follow me on Twitter: @thailandmkl. Read my western novels, Whitewater , River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon. And God Bless America!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member