People’s Law, the Solution for America

Thomas Jefferson wanted to promote primitive institutions to govern on the new continent that we have come to know as the United States of America.  Jefferson said that the American Revolution was the “Reclamation of which the colonists had been deprived by a a ‘long trend of abuses’”.  (Thomas Jefferson: The Apostle of Americanism)

People’s Law – a system of government where the government is kept under the control of the people and political power is maintained at the balanced center with enough government to maintain security, justice, and good order, but not enough government to abuse the people.  (The 5000 Year Leap)

People’s law provides for the common welfare of the people through individual accomplishment and local governance.  This concept is something that today’s government officials and political lobbyist constantly fail to grasp.  Problems are not solved from the national level down to the individual people, but the individuals solve the problems form a local level and those solutions effect the national level.

Now, the founders chose People’s law for its principles.  These principles were heavy in influencing the Constitution and the separation of powers.

The principles are as follows:

1. People’s Law is a collection, a commonwealth, of freemen.  A common wealth of people who think and choose for themselves with no influence besides their own, personal experience and facts.
2. All decisions of the leaders are made with the consent of the people, unlike today where decisions are made and the reactions of the people amend, but do not abolish political decisions.
3. Power is dispersed among the people. Only in times of war was the national government given more power and that power was only temporary.
4. Resolving problems started with the individual, then the family, then the community, then theregion, and finally the nation.
5. Everything was local, every adult had a voice and most importantly, that adult had a vote in any public issue.
6. Every individuals rights were unalienable.  No one could take away another persons God given rights without fear of being struck down by the divine wrath of God.
7. Justice was in the form of punishment by fair trial (punishments were a little more severe back then because people had honor).
8. Problems were always solved where the problem originated.
9. The laws that govern the people are Natural Laws.

Natural Laws – Laws given by divine dispensation.  Laws that are so well known by the people, they did not need to be written down. (The 5000 Year Leap)

What is amazing about these principles are that they are focused on the local people.  There is no overseeing person who can say yes or no to an action.  Everything that happened through government had a local effect.  Sometimes the effects were good, sometimes they were bad.

Lets take for instance Jamestown, the first English settlement in the new land.  What was the biggest problem that the colonist faced?  In my opinion, it was who they were going to follow.  Capt. John Smith took up this role of “leader”, but he did it in adifferent way than a King would have.  John Smith told the people of Jamestown that the only way they were going to survive was if they began to do things such as farming, fishing, hunting, building, etc on their own.  He set up the system of “if you don’t work, you don’t eat”.  It is a slightly militaristic approach you could argue, but it got the colonist to take individual ownership of their fate.

The people either had to work or die, plan and simple.

This sparked instant growth in “industry”.  People became aware that the King wasn’t going to be sending care packages and welfare programs to help them.  The King was hundreds of miles away, they had to provide for themselves.  People’s Law became the code by which they had to live by.  Everyone was a part of every decision, but not as the collective, but as individuals looking out for their betterment.  With their betterment came the betterment of the whole society.

Jamestown became the original “City Upon The Hill” a beacon of prosperity for all future colonies to mirror.  Yes, I realize that the town met a sad demise, but their fire lived on within the future colonist.

In my opinion, this is what started the American Dream.  The knowledge that one can reap what you sow.  The ability to say, this is what I did and here is my bounty (food, money, admiration) to prove it.  Personal gain and personal property gave the colonist a reason to become more than what they were back in England.

We need to go back to these values and principles.  We need to go back to the time when someone won a race, they were the only one to get a trophy.  We need to go back to a time when a person who made 100 dollars got to keep 95 dollars of it and those five dollars went to building the army to protect the citizens, not to unions who manipulate and rob the citizens.  We need to go back to a time when charity was local, when the capable gave a hand to those in the street instead of a hand out.

America needs to realize what self sacrifice and self determination creates real wealth and happiness.