Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Nullification

Thomas Woods, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, recently published another book that I hope becomes "all the rage" and is taken seriously by the populace.  This book is called Nullification.

Woods is proposing that we revive a long-forgotten and forbidden idea.  Namely, that the 50 states use the means of nullification to reclaim the power that has belonged to them from the beginning.  He demonstrates how we might beging to actively resist the federal tyranny that we have accepted passively for far too long.  We have lain idly by as the federal government continues its invasion into every corner of our lives.  In the beginning, the powers granted to it were few and limited, yet man, at his greedy best, instinctively threw off those limitations and immediately began grasping for more than what he had been granted. 

So, here we are today in a climate where the government believes the people are beholden to them instead of the other way around...where our leaders feel justified in spending as much of our money as they want in whatever way they want...where they feel entitled to our trust and obeisance...and where we are expected to passively submit at all costs.

There are a couple reasons I am embracing the idea of nullification.  First, it makes good common sense.  It is not simply an emotional, reactionary response, but a well-reasoned, historically-based and principled idea.   Second, it is in keeping with biblical principles.  It is not about individuals rising up in rebellion against the God-ordained authorities; rather, it is about one branch of God-ordained civil authority fulfilling its obligation to protect its people from the tyranny of another branch of civil authority.  Does that make sense?  In my mind, it runs parallel to the difference between taking personal vengeance for a crime committed (forbidden), and allowing the civil authorities to execute justice for the crime (demanded). 

Quite simply, nullification is based on the belief that when the federal government exercises any authority outside the very limited powers with which it was specifically endowed, their actions are to be declared invalid, null and void, and are to be ignored by the States.  This is the way to prevent federal tyranny.  But now that we've allowed ourselves to live under it for so long, can nullification be effective?  Can we ever really reverse the process? 

I say yes.  But it will require a new mindset...in politicians and in the people...a mindset that is the opposite of what we have been deliberately taught or what we have passively accepted as the norm.  It will require patient, diligent, and persistent effort.

To be cont'...

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