There is a reason we refer to “the rule of law and not of men” when discussing the American political system. It is because a republican form of government seeks to restrain the unbridled and quixotic passions of pure democracy, rather than yield to them. It also rejects the desire of the majority in favor of individual rights. Democracy seeks to assert the right of the group, but so does a mob with a hangman’s noose. There’s also a reason why lady justice is blindfolded: She is not to see the individuals, interest groups, race, or any characteristic at all of those that plead before her–her proper concern is not directed towards them; her care is to decide the law. It’s also why the question of justice as presented before judges is not one of mercy (that belongs in the will of the people as expressed through their representatives in law), but one of exacting only what the law requires be exacted. The rule of law is all about the removal of arbitrary will from its application. A judge who seeks to apply his own notions of justice and mercy (as opposed to those notions being defined by the people through law) is a judge who seeks to impose arbitrary will in opposition to the rule of law. And it is arbitrary will that is the very definition of tyranny.
A Republic, If You Can Keep It – The American Form of Government
25 comments on “A Republic, If You Can Keep It – The American Form of Government”
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gooddarkjedi
November 6, 2010 at 1:48 am
its solon not solan. solon was greek philosopher.
AboveAllNations
November 6, 2010 at 1:54 am
@gnatpiz Conservatives called Lincoln a tyrant when he used an army to invade the South and liberate the slaves. Conservatives criticized the Supreme Court for judicial activism when it ordered Southern schools to desegregate. And conservatives filibustered when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which forbade discrimination by public AND private employers.
But the conservatives were wrong – bigger government has led to MORE freedom throughout American history. This is a fact.
gnatpiz
November 6, 2010 at 2:52 am
@AboveAllNations It is most certainly the size of gov’t that is the issue. When gov’t power grows, freedom of the people recedes. This is proven by history and is not at all arguable.
farrelrj
November 6, 2010 at 3:23 am
@ToxicOdiousOne I agree with that 100%.
palorius
November 6, 2010 at 3:59 am
@lukecha88 no, he said that the political spectrum is ‘no government’ on the right, ‘total government’ on the left. Anarchy is a transitional government that doesn’t last. While I agree that this video is biased, by no means does it lose credibility according to your argument. By the way, the Bulsheviks actually had little to do with the revolution. Most of them were exiled by the czar. Look it up.
ddgallion
November 6, 2010 at 4:51 am
@krebul You misunderstood what was proposed, and that was that the old L/R spectrum is misleading and that a better way to view political ideology is to view political philosophy as one end being no govt and the other end being totalitarian or absolute govt. L/R is not applicable as either end can be made to represent total govt and the other no govt. Notice Fascism and Communism together at one end of the chart. The L&R just want control over different aspects of our society, not true liberty.
ToxicOdiousOne
November 6, 2010 at 4:55 am
The Constitution guarantees all states in the Union a Republican form of government. So the Democrat party is unconstitutional.
deec269
November 6, 2010 at 5:29 am
@krebul The problem is neither are going by what the Constitution grants us~ freedom to decide for ourselves on these matters. Not the government!
DocLottaLove
November 6, 2010 at 6:15 am
A falling empire !
That’s what America is.
—
Doc
deec269
November 6, 2010 at 6:47 am
@BowlesI Put them in Jail. We have to vote these men out . Vote Ron Paul in for President ~ moderate Constitionalist, 2012 or sooner. Expose Obama and the rest for what they are ~ traitors. globe mag has already put 3 articles exposing Obama as an illegal President. This is something that everyone should know. Support Col. Latkin on his quest for the truth, hero to our Republic. is being court matial for refusing to serve another tour of duty unless BO can prove he is the legitimate President.
deec269
November 6, 2010 at 7:33 am
@AliceGoBoom We can by sending it to everyone we can reach on YT.
fuzzywuzy
November 6, 2010 at 8:26 am
@AboveAllNations That’s the concept submitted to the convention by George Mason. Reserving a perponderance of power to the states… but that’s another subject that may be too broad for the scope of what the author was wanting to get into.
I think he was just trying to define and give a good understanding of what left and right are and assert the fact that we are a democratic republic.
misterbs1
November 6, 2010 at 8:46 am
No, lukecha88, that’s not what this video ‘says’. Perhaps you’d consider putting your rush to judgment on hold for a few minutes?
The ‘extreme right’ referred to in the video is talking about the ‘scale’ or ‘spectrum’ of governmental forms represented by the graphic. It is not referring to The Right or Right Wing political factions.
Not only is this presentation credible, it is direct and easily understood on an introductory level.
lukecha88
November 6, 2010 at 8:56 am
“The anarchists who created the problem then created government run by them, an oligarchy, where they have total power. This is exactly what happened in Russia…”
And at the beginning of the video we heard that anarchists are on the far right. So this video is saying that the Communist Bolsheviks who took over Russia were on the far right!?
Good bye credibility.
krebul
November 6, 2010 at 9:13 am
“The far right is no government, while the far left is total government”. That is a misrepresentation of modern American politics. On an issue by issue bases, the left and right disagree on the government’s involvement.
For example, the right wants the government to outlaw abortions, the left does not. The right wants to keep marijuana illegal, but it is considered extreme left wing to legalize it. The right wants the government to tell gays they can’t marry each other, the left does not.
aliunde
November 6, 2010 at 9:15 am
@AboveAllNations: The Constitution was one of strictly limited and enumerated powers. You need but read The Federalist Papers (authored by Madison, Jay, and Hamilton) to secure passage of the Constitution by the respective states) to understand that.
A quick quote: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” –James Madison, Federalist No. 45
AboveAllNations
November 6, 2010 at 9:38 am
Entertaining video, but this is a gross misrepresentation. The author doesn’t note, for example, that the U.S. Constitution replaced the catastrophic “limited government” under the Articles of Confederation, and that a desire to tax Americans directly & regulate interstate commerce were the two chief motivations behind the U.S. Constitution. The size & role of a government is not the issue; it is a government’s internal structure – its checks & balances – which are the key to its success.
BowlesI
November 6, 2010 at 10:23 am
Oligarchy is already in place. Now what do we do?
mesmerizedbyamy
November 6, 2010 at 10:37 am
@AliceGoBoom
When was it not an oligarchy? The first 43 presidents of your nation are mostly either related or intermarried and lets not get started on the Senate. A country comprised of several different cultures, although the leadership of it seems to have only recently ever passed out of a few families. What does this tell you?
Kommencentz
November 6, 2010 at 10:59 am
Dosen’t matter what you say, this video is on the mark and makes total sense. People like whotookmypiewtf, BellaBarron, and goldenfrothystream are either to stupid to understand this video or they are shills that go around trying to degrade anything that might educate the masses to waking up, and notice the ones trying to discredit only shout things like, “this video is so inaccurate.”, but offer no evidence to support thier claims. That my friends, is typical propaganda.
Kommencentz
November 6, 2010 at 11:38 am
Dosen’t matter what you say, this video is on the mark and makes total sense. People like whotookmypiewtf, BellaBarron, and goldenfrothystream are either to stupid to understand this video or they are shills that go around trying to degrade anything that might educate the masses to waking up, and notice the ones trying to discredit only shout things like, “this video is so inaccurate.”, but offer no evidence to support thier claims. That my friends is typical propaganda.
dLimboStick
November 6, 2010 at 11:45 am
This has got to be the most hilarious proposition yet from the right, trying to distance themselves from Fascism. It’s pretty funny how the author claims the traditional concept of left-right is wrong and then he places the right as meaning no govt and the left as meaning total govt. What a joke. Proceeding from that propagandized model of the political spectrum, leaves the rest of the proposal without legitimate standing.
MLBinwa
November 6, 2010 at 12:11 pm
@whotookmypiewtf
Please list one or more credible websites.
Thanks.
whotookmypiewtf
November 6, 2010 at 12:39 pm
@MLBinwaAny credible website and you will see this political spectrum is wrong. The notion that far-right politics means no government and far-left politics include total government is completely false.The terms “left” and “right” appeared during the French Revolution of 1789 when members of the National Assembly divided into supporters of the king to the president’s right (an authoritarian monarchy) and supporters of the revolution to his left. So its not the way I see it, it is the way it is.
whotookmypiewtf
November 6, 2010 at 1:13 pm
@MLBinwa Thats not how the spectrum works, because to the far right is also social conservatism, meaning that the government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing what they consider traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent.