“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write
for the public and have no self.”- Cyril Connolly (1903 - 1974)
What Does It Mean
To Be A Real American?
‘THE
BOTTOM LINE’
Posted October 20, 2018
The true foundation
of America is not a democracy as the anti-America media propaganda says, the
real foundation of America is individualism.
Defining individualism within the construct of the United
States and what it means to be an American, gives us an understanding of both
our individual purpose and the purpose of our Constitutional-Republican
guaranteed form of government.
Article 4 - Section 4 – of the U.S. Constitution:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State
in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened)
against domestic Violence.”
A Republic
1: a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and
is usually a president; also: a nation or other political unit having such a
government 2 a government in which supreme power is held by the citizens
entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives
governing according to law; also: a nation or other political unit having such
a form of government Source: NMW
In the context of the United States, both definitions apply.
Both John Locke and Charles de Montesquieu, two of
America’s most influential Enlightenment philosophers, articulate this as well.
Dr. Lyle Rossiter, in his study of the American psyche, gives a very concrete
definition which eloquently and clearly characterizes the meaning and function
of individualism; and, as Dr. Rossiter rightfully states, “Individuation
is fundamental to any society grounded in the principles of individual liberty.”
Dr. Rossiter
defines and explains individualism
as:
“The autonomous individuated adult correctly assumes his
right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He assumes the right as a
moral conviction: he has a proper sense of entitlement to a life of his own, to
live as he sees fit and not as someone else directs. But mature autonomy does
not consist in a belief that one should be able to do or have anything that one
wants without regard for others and without earning it. It does not imply
entitlement to goods and services from others simply because one demands it or
needs it. That is the attitude of a dependent child…It is not the callous
disdain for the other that is always present in a pathological narcissism but
often concealed by superficial charm.
The truly autonomous person learns in
contrast to the narcissist that every other person is also an autonomous agent
in his own right, not a mere object to be exploited…the truly autonomous person
honors the sovereignty of other competent persons and respects their right to
live lives of their own. These insights are critical to participation in a free
society. They ground our conception of individual liberty, lead to prohibitions
against encroaching upon the persons and property of others, and establish the
attitudinal foundation for equality under the law.[1]”
Locke, nearly a century prior to the formation of the
United States, wrote[2]
that “Men being, as has been said, by nature, all free, equal, and
independent, no one can be put out of his estate, and subjected to a political
power of another, without his own consent.
The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society
is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community, for their
comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure
enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any that are not of
it…wherein the majority have
a right to act and conclude the rest.”[3]
This individualism cannot
be supplanted by the will of a majority. It is the cornerstone behind
why we are not
a democracy, but a deliberately chosen Constitutional-Republic.[4]
Our Founders studied the democracies of the past and understood their abject
failures, so while embracing democratic principles; they reject democracy as a form of governance. They realized a pure democracy, as history had demonstrated,
was a road to despotism, and an absolute breach of individualism. Moreover,
I say this because, few understand that in the year 1913 with the passage of
the unconstitutional 16th and 17th Amendments, as well as
the Federal Reserve Act, the United States became a true pure democracy. Today as in all of history we are
surruptishisly, as the Framers feared, - on the road to despotism.
Rossiter
continues:
“Individualism insists that an
individual’s freedom to live as he chooses may not be subordinated to any
collective-based rules beyond those essential to ensure social order and equal
liberty for all individuals…[and]…must give first importance to the individual,
not to a group; no collective cause should be allowed to override those rights.
The only legitimate function of government is to foster the lives of citizens
by protecting their rights as individuals, not as members of a class or group;
no collective cause should be allowed to override those rights. Individualism
opposes any conception of the state or other collective as primary in value
over the individual. In particular, it opposes any notion that the individual
exists for the good of the state.[5]
Bibliography Source is at the bottom of this article.
Our Philosophical
Founders, Locke, and Montesquieu couldn’t agree more.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Somehow I have always known
this. Maybe it’s because in my day they
still taught real American history. While I have written articles on this
subject several times before. I decided after graduating from the class on
American Constitutional History at Hillsdale University in Hillsdale Michigan
that this was an appropriate time in our political history to revisit this
important, little known and little understood truth about our American
Heritage.
If one is ignorant about where one comes from, one
will also be ignorant about where one is going.
Thanks for listening my friend. Now go do the right
thing, pray and fight for truth and freedom.
If you would like to write me direct with a question or a comment you
can contact me at writedeandrea@hotmail.com
-
de Andréa
Please
pass on this article to everyone on your email list. It may be the only chance for your family and
friends to hear the truth.
[1] Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D., 2006, The Liberal mind: The Psychological
Causes of Political Madness, (St. Charles, IL: Free World Books,
LLC), pp. 130-131.
[2] Locke ascribes to this
throughout his Second
Treatise articulated it in a variety of descriptions.
[3] John Locke, 1982, ed.
Richard Cox (originally published in 1690),
Second Treatise of Government, “Book VIII: Of the Beginning of
Political Societies, Sec. 95,” (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc.), p. 58.
[4] In pages 120 to 125,
Montesquieu begins building the bases for why separate states join to build a
confederate-republic. See Charles de Montesquieu, 2010 (originally published in
1748), The Spirit of the
Laws, “Book IX: Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to a Defensive
Force,” (Digireads.com Book), p 120-125.
[5] Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D.,
2006, The Liberal mind: The
Psychological Causes of Political Madness, (St. Charles, IL: Free
World Books, LLC), p. 146.
The Fine
Print
Copyright © 2005 by Bottom Line Publishing, All Rights
Reserved - Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted,
provided full credit is given.
Disclaimer - The writer of this blog is not responsible
for the language or advertisements used in links to referenced articles as
source materials.
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