The South African Constitution, by contrast, devotes 32 different articles to individual rights before it even mentions the structure of government. While America’s founders were primarily worried about how lawmakers would be selected and what powers they would and would not have, South Africa’s Constitution begins with a statement of human rights. It’s drafters wanted first and foremost to ensure that nothing like apartheid would ever exist again.Our US Constitution doesn't start with a list of rights, because government cannot grant rights! We're born with them by virtue of being human (not by being US citizens). The principles of good government were given in our Declaration of Independence; the Constitution is the specification for the government that implements it. Even our Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to our Constitution -- not an afterthought) acknowledge that they are not granting these rights, and the tenth amendment further states that the Bill of Rights are not a complete list -- and cannot be (because government cannot grant rights that we're born with).
The US Constitution is the "white list" of things our government must do. The Bill of Rights is the "black list" of natural rights on which no good government should ever infringe. Guess what? The US government infringes on several of them routinely.
I respect Nelson Mandela, and everything he had to endure under apartheid (not that dissimilar from our own slavery, Jim Crow laws and segregation), but all of those things are already supposed to be illegal -- problems we had to work out under our own form of government. No constitution can prevent tyrants from ignoring it or circumventing it, as we see playing out in abundance today by the US government.
The article is from the website, Think Progress (as in 'progressive'), so you just know I'll disagree with them. Nelson Mandela was an avowed communist, so whatever "individual rights" his Constitution arrogantly granted most likely involved little or no economic freedom, but rather provision without consent, by the productive members of society, for the non-productive members. When done by anyone but government, it is the definition of "theft".
From each according to his ability; to each according to his need is a beautiful thing when it is done voluntarily. But it is slavery when earnings are redistributed by government, without the consent of the worker-producers.
Ass wiping 101:
ReplyDeleteBorn alive and at the begining my parents wiped my ass until I could do it myself.
Now I am grown up for 55 years subtract three for the sake of this disertation from me on the subject of the dignity of ass wiping rights.
So let's say that I have been wiping my own ass now for 52 years.
I love the fact that I been able to wipe my own ass to my personal standards for that time from then until now.
Now we have our own government trying to sell everyone on a deadly program of wiping everyones ass for them.
Those like me that manage to wipe my/our own ass carefully to our personal rights standards thru the freedom doctrine of getting our shit together are now catagorized as evil or some shit.
Those like me are now told that I need to give/share my personal ass wiping ability wealth to help fund ass wipage by the government for those who are brainwashed and conditioned under a deadly doctrine to believe that they should live to have the government wipe their ass for them and like it.
All societies, countries, you name them/it thru-out history that have fallen for the government wipe your ass program have in fact resulted in the most horrific death tolls and suffering ad-infinitum, not sometimes: EVERYTIME PERIOD.
If you are reading this reply/comment ask yourself this question:
Do you prefer to wipe your own ass to your personal standards by striving freely to get ahead and make a contribution to the game of life?
Or do you want to swallow the deadly doctrine of you suck and need to suck upon the wonderful world of having the goverment wipe your ass. At the expense of those who kick ass.
Kick ass, or suck ass and have others wipe your ass.
Take your pick America.
That is where we are at my fellow Americans.
The present government wants to treat us as babies without a chance of getting it together period. The government wants the masses to get addicted to sucking on the nipple of dependence with a permanent lip-lock.
If you are capable of making your own way thru life it's your fault that someone out there can't, and you need to rescue them.
Forget about teaching people to handle life and get it together. Everyone should get a free ride to government cheese la-la-land provided by the evil self sustaining have it together element thru government taxation yada-yada.
Americans need to be taught the wisdom of "no cheese please", I brought my own thank you.
I'll shut up now, thanks for reading if you did.