The Consent of the Governed

The United States Declaration of Independence begins:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

Houston, we have a problem. A recent Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey discovered that only 21% of voters believe that the federal government has the consent of the governed.  A full 61% of American voters do not believe that the current U.S. government does enjoy the consent of the governed.  Only 18% of voters polled were not sure.  The political middle is slowly disappearing as the nation divides itself into the statist minority and the freedom-loving majority.

Additional data from the Rasmussen report is even more elightening.  71% of American voters see the federal government as a special interest group.  We are in the situation Thomas Jefferson predicted over two hundred years ago when he wrote “The general (federal) government will tend to monarchy, which will fortify itself from day to day, instead of working its own cures.”  Our government and the people in it are far more interesting in maintaining their comfortable government jobs and expanding the power of their positions than in providing service to the American people.  Jefferson also wrote “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.”  Clearly, this standard is not being followed by our current generation of kleptocrats.

The nations ire is not directed at the federal government alone. 70% of American voters believe that the government and big business are working together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.  I have always been pro-business, but I can no longer maintain that position. Big business has colluded with government to steal from taxpayers, consumers, and investors.  Big business is now part of the problem.

A full 75% of American voters are now willing to admit that they are angry at the policies of the federal government.  Moreover, 63% believe it will be better for the nation if most current members of Congress are defeated this November.

Unlike many similar polls in the past, Americans are not happy even with their own representatives.  Only 27% of voters believe their own Congressperson is the best person for the job.

Interestingly, Americans with a greater sense of history are less accepting of the current government.  Only 16% of senior citizens believe that the government is acting with the consent of the governed.  Only 19% of those polled between the ages of 50 and 64 agreed.  25% of Americans under 40 believe that the government is operating with the consent of the governed.

It should be alarming to the Democratic Party that even 44% of their own party members do not believe that the government they elected just over a year ago still maintains the consent of the governed.  That’s only 6% from a majority.  I wonder if Pelosi and Reid are looking at these numbers?  Without support even from members of their own party, they may soon be looking for jobs.

What I wonder more though, is if Americans remember what follows immediately after that opening excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:

“… That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

This is a very high standard for Americans to live up to.  It is a standard to which our forefathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.  Frankly, I don’t believe that we’re up to the task.  We get the government we deserve, and it seems to me that the current generation of Americans is getting the government it deserves.  Our lack of will to live our lives as free individuals has left us defenseless against the predations of the federal government.  Until we learn once again to stand on our own two feet, we will never deserve the freedom for which our forefathers fought and died.