Qui Tacet Consentit . . .
By William Bailey (07/27/03)
I find there are two English translations for this Latin phrase . . . “Silence implies consent” and “He who is silent agrees”. For, lo, too many years now, it appears that this is what’s been happening to our much-loved nation. The silence of those, who believe that the Founders of this country laid out a pretty good plan in the Constitution, has been deafening.
And, because of that silence and the accompanying “assumed acquiescence” the appearance is that we concur with what our elected officials have been doing . . . both to us and to that Constitution.
Neither of the two major political parties can escape culpability for what they have been “spoon-feeding” the American public.
As has been pointed out ad infinitum (and I’m sure to some, ad nauseum) the solution . . . . the cure . . for the disease that afflicts us is really very simple. Live within the boundaries and parameters established in the Constitution of the United States. Let’s “dance with the one who ‘brung’ us”. It got us to the level of being the greatest nation in the history of mankind. It provided us with the highest degree of freedom and liberty ever enjoyed by any people. Why, for the past few decades, have we sat by and, passively, allowed it to be tinkered with ?
The intent of the Founders, as is clearly spelled out in the Constitution, was that the government of this nation be vested in the governed . . . “We the People”. It is clear that, primarily, the 535 members of the U.S. Congress have decided that they don’t have to stay within the Constitutionally prescribed power and authority of Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1-18. On more than one occasion, a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would require each and every bill to cite the specific Constitutional provision granting authority for what was in the proposed bill. Every time this proposal is presented, it goes down to defeat.
Since the premise of the Founders was that government is based on the consent of the governed, that means that all elected officials work for us. They are, in fact, our employees. Consider this . . . if you owned a business with stated policies and you had employees who chose not to abide by those policies, how long would they continue to work for you ? Yet, by our silence we give assent to continued “employment” for those who, not only violate the policies as stated in the Constitution, but who stand up and swear to “support and defend” those very policies. The cumulative result is that, sooner or later, we wake up and find that the basis on which this nation was founded has been eroded and is in the process of being completely re-directed . . . by our “employees”. Folks . . . there’s something horribly wrong with that picture.
It has been said many, many times that government cannot be “all things to all people”. Yet, it seems that this is the road down which we travel. And, by our silence, we appear to be saying that that’s okay with us.
Well, it’s time to wake up . . . look around . . . take stock . . . see what’s really happening in this nation. Do you realize that we’ve got folks who have no idea what it means to have to take personal responsibility for their own actions ? Do you realize that we’ve got parents who have no concept of what it means to fulfill the responsibility of being parents ? Do you understand that the education system in this country is terminally ill ? Do you, honestly, see that it’s almost impossible to distinguish between the branches of government, since each of the three have become so intrusive on the Constitutionally established powers of either of the other two ? Do you realize that the only way to get back to what made this nation great isn’t in the hands of the elected officials . . . it’s in the hands of “We the People” ?
If we want to achieve, perpetuate and preserve what the Founders envisioned when they established this nation, we’d better get off this kick of being silent. For, if we continue to be silent, we deserve exactly what we get.
In closing, hear the words of an appropriate and meaningful story . . . years ago, in a mountainous region of the country, there was an old man . . . lived in a cabin on the side of a hill. His reputation was that he could answer any question anybody could put to him. Well, in this same area, there were a couple of young, rather mischievous lads who determined that they were going to “show the old man up”. They decided they would get a baby bird, one would cup his hands around the bird. They would ask the old man what they had. And he would answer correctly. But then, they would ask, “is it alive or is it dead ?” If he said it was alive, the boy holding the bird would crush it, if he said it was dead, he would open his hands and let the bird fly away. Either way, they figured that, once and for all . . . they had the old man. They got the baby bird . . . one of the boys cupped his hands around the bird and off to the cabin they marched. Responding to the knock, the old man opened the door. The boy holding the bird asked, “Old man, what do I hold in my hand ?” The old man paused and then answered, “appears to me it’s a baby bird”. “Yes, old man, “ the boy continued, “but is it alive or is it dead ?” Again, the old man paused, then with the quietness of age and wisdom said, “It is as you will it, my son”.
What happens to our country is, quite literally and simply, summed up in the old man’s answer . . . “It is as you will it”. But, continued silence will produce only continued “assumed acquiescence”.
It is as you will it.
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