http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm

Asking a libertarian if he actually read the constitution is like asking a Southern Baptist if he read the Bible. Of course you wouldn’t be a libertarian if you actually read the Constitution. The original Constitution refused to regulate African Slavery. It took no less than three amendments to eliminate slavery in the US. The last one was signed in the 1960s. It also took a Constitutional Amendment to grant women the vote.

If you actually read the Constitution, you wouldn’t be a libertarian asshat. If you read the Constitution you would know that regulating businesses and taxation are perfectly legal. They even wrote tariffs into the document. As a whole, the Constitution is a very vague document that gives a lot of latitude on its interpretation.

Here is a link to the actual Constitution.

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

Please read the whole thing and not just the parts you like.

Custom is the other means the Constitution is circumvented. John Adams began the customs that place church over the Constitution. Under Adams, the president became a religious leader as well as a secular leader. The president had to have been a white Christian due to custom and not the constitution. The president proclaims holidays in imitation of the British monarch. The Christianoid churches feel that they are the supreme law in this nation because they were for over 200 years. That was not constitution, that was custom.

Social Evolution is like biological evolution. It is a long and slow process that can centuries. Martin Luther nailed his protests against the Catholic Church on the doors of his church. Henry VIII used that event for his political advantage.

The result was that new ideas flooded into Europe. Without the pope in the way, there was nothing to keep England from opening trade with the Muslim east. Along with silk, spices, and steel, British traders came back with new ideas. Algebra was introduced to England during the reign of James I. This gave rise to a renaissance in scientific thought and resulted in Isaac Newton changing the face of science forever. Aristotle was also introduced to the West after an absence of over 1000 years. Plato and his philosopher king was abandoned in favor of Athenian democracy. Free thought, free inquiry, and free speech were all concepts that came into fashion thanks to the Reformation.

History is more than the actions of governments. History is the study of forces that changed the entire world. By studying history we can trace back the ideas that we hold today and see where they come from. This is as true for the good ideas as the bad ideas. We can study the progression of ideas that led to changes in government as well as the progression of ideas that led to dictatorships. Hopefully we can learn to foster the good ideas and abandon the bad ones.

The future can be a scary place and there are plenty of forces out there that hold us back. Here in 21st Century America it is the religious right and the libertarian movement. Both wish to move this country to a time in the past that never really existed. By the reign of James I, the old Catholic monarchy had become “the good old days.” Catesby and Fawkes were pursuing an idealized goal that never existed in history.

Here in the 21st Century we have our own reactionaries who want to return the US to a time that never existed. One such group are the libertarians. As Catesby and Fawkes idealized Catholic rule, the Libertarians idealize the founding fathers. I suspect the founders of this nation would be very much surprised at the opinions and beliefs attributed to them. Like the religious right, the libertarians have a sacred book which is considered to be divinely inspired. That book is the Federalist Papers, which they confuse with the Constitution whenever convenient.

So this is why I am very amused that the libertarians have adopted Guy Fawkes as their hero. Fawkes was also a reactionary using an absurd plan plan to return England to an idealized point in time. Fawkes and his friends felt that Rome would grant them freedoms that Rome never granted to anyone. Like Fawkes and Catesby the libertarians are a bunch of fuck-ups who have no idea of what it would cost them if they did have their way.