"Everything They Ever Told Me Was A Lie" is the title of a book by Pat Shannan.
That might be exaggerated, but I also see too many lies in high places. An Iconoclast finds fault, with every lie he sees, at every pretense, false, he wields a hefty sneeze.
They told me the framers of the federal government were the founders of this country. But this country was settled at least partly by whites for about 200 years before the Constitution. I want to believe it was founded by the liberty zeal of those poor, tired, huddled masses that came here yearning to breathe free. For 200 years they mostly governed themselves by holding frequent local town hall meetings to discuss issues and find solutions.
Many thought this was working pretty good for liberty and justice.
But the Royal British and the American Federalists were not happy with that kind of "anarchy." They thought people must be ruled by "higher ups." Madison said, If men were angels no government would be needed.
Today we might question whether those who wear the government badges are any more like angels than the rest of us. And do those myriads of laws churned out every year by those law happy law makers in Congress serve the purpose of peace, prosperity, and happiness any better than our won common law natural rights rules used too?
John Jay in the federalist No.2 said that we must yield some of our natural rights to the government. Ugh. Who is he? And how is it that he thinks he can lay claim to some of our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property?
I have heard complaints that the government is inept. I looked up inept. It means unsuited for the purpose.
They told me individuals may not steal but that if it's done by law and majority vote it's OK to do it on a grand scale. It is not OK. It is still stealing.
It is crime committed under color of law. It is legal plunder.
It is however not exactly a new phenomenon. Aesop said long ago, "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
Alas! Why? And whose fault is it?
Well, someone once said, the definition of insanity is to try to fix a bad problem by trying the same failed solution over and over again and expecting a different result next time around.
Jacob Lapp is a Cassadaga resident.
