Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny? - Investors.com

Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?

By THOMAS SOWELL Posted 06:13 PM ET


When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.

Such people were a valuable addition to his political base, since they were particularly susceptible to Hitler's rhetoric and had far less basis for questioning his assumptions or his conclusions.

"Useful idiots" was the term supposedly coined by V.I. Lenin to describe similarly unthinking supporters of his dictatorship in the Soviet Union.

Put differently, a democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive.

In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.

The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies.

Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.

And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Many among the public and in the media may think that the issue is simply whether BP's oil spill has damaged many people, who ought to be compensated.

But our government is supposed to be "a government of laws and not of men."

If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it.

But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without "due process of law."

Technically, it has not been confiscated by Barack Obama, but that is a distinction without a difference.

With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution.

If you believe that the end justifies the means, then you don't believe in constitutional government.





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This is an interesting editorial; however, I would shy away from the use of the word "Nazi." These days, calling someone a Nazi is as hallow as the person using the term. But this does not elude the point that Mr. Sowell does have an interesting argument. I think we all can agree that:

-A Republic and/or democratic political system does rely on the intelligence of its citizens.
-Freedoms in this country are being dismantled piece by piece (namely, for the "good" of the public). Primary seat belt laws, DUI laws for, "physical control," of the vehicle, etc.
-Governments ought not "shakedown" private companies for funds preemptive to a tort claim being brought forth in court. Doing so is outside the chains of the Constitution.

Read the Declaration of Independence, and you will see what the Founding Fathers were referring to when they were talking about a tyrant. They spoke of a Monarch dissolving Houses of Representatives and the Monarch installing Representatives at their discretion. Installing judges loyal to only the King, being paid by the King, and not having the true interest of the people in mind.

History is made every day. Even though all of us are only here for a short while, we can and should build on the concept of freedom and hard work; the concepts that built America to the place that it is today. Where we are losing our way, I do not know. One sentiment that lingers without question, is the notion that we truly are.