This is the final installment in the series examining solutions for our ailing economy by Art Thompson, CEO of The John Birch Society.

Adherence to the Constitution is the ultimate solution to almost all of the problems that face America today. The overriding principle is that the Constitution is the law. As such, it must be followed by all citizens, Congress, and government officials.

Our Founding Fathers were not a bunch of ignorant farmers and merchants.Yes, they were farmers and merchants, but they were men who had a deep understanding of life and history. They were on the cutting edge of the period of the Enlightenment, a political and philosophical extension of the Renaissance. They also had something that the European Renaissance intellectuals did not always have: a sense of responsibility and deep moral principles.

The Founders had also just gone through eight long years of conflict and several years of political unrest. The unrest was the result of a failure to find the right way to utilize the law to protect the God-given rights of the people. And this was a critical need. Failure to create a proper system of laws would merely have resulted in the installation of another onerous government no different than the one than had just been so laboriously overthrown. In America, the adoption of the Constitution prevented this outcome. In Europe, where the Enlightenment began but where it ultimately went off track, failure to adequately implement a just system of law led to the Jacobins and the blood-drenched French revolution.

The Constitution was not written specifically for an agrarian society. It was written with the understanding of human nature and the nature of government. No greater injustice has been perpetrated against students than the notion that the Constitution is outdated because of when it was written.

Our Founders realized that first of all they could not institute a democracy. Democracy through the ages had been short lived and useful in building up tyrants. Democracy ruled at the whim of the majority to the bane of the minority. It magnified all of the evil desires of men into a mob, rather than protect liberty. In matters of economy, democracy led to taxation for wealth redistribution in order to satisfy the desires of the idle and special interests. From democracy, chaos always ensues. Invariably, the solution proposed is a stronger, more authoritarian government that can "restore order." That always results in the enslavement of the people.

Our Founders therefore gave us a Republic: the Rule of Law, equal for all. The people were free to do as they chose as long as it did not infringe on the rights of others. A republic serves as the protector of rights, not the provider of special rights, nor a dole, either for the people or businesses ― or foreign countries.

A republic is more or less permanent as long as the people are well educated in the classic liberal arts. Changes made to the law must go through an excruciating process and supermajority before taking effect. This guarantees that panic will not supersede common sense, and that the changes made are the correct solutions, if sufficient time for debate was allowed. Gridlock, so disdained today by the major media and its lackeys at the think tanks and in the universities, is a desireable element in republic. It allows for valuable time during which the storms of passion can beat out their energy, preventing the passage of laws in the heat of the moment.

Our Founders gave us an economic system that permitted total liberty for the individual. We were to have proper coinage with intrinsic money in gold or silver. Holding this form of money meant citizens had something of value unto itself. With gold in the pocket, one had something of value. With paper, one has just paper, its value based on trust and the numbers printed on it.

Our Founders knew from history that when money was not gold or silver, the people would not remain free for very long. The economic system they created, based on the free market and real money, was not an accident. It was thoughtfully created as a part of and consequence of the nature of the Constitutional republic they created.

It is a testimony to the American people, the resilience of the American businessman, and the brilliance of the American Constitution that we have remained free as long as we have. Free from the extreme devastation of fiat money and chaotic public disturbances that stem from democracy. It is true that we have experienced down turns and periods of civil unrest, but the latter have been confined mostly to major cities. Some violence and the further eroding of our Constitution has been stopped through large scale educational efforts by The John Birch Society; many citizens stopped following en masse a false leadership because of these educational efforts.

But the signs on the horizon now are ones that indicate that we may have serious, permanent problems with our economic system due to the wide acceptance of unconstitutional remedies to already unconstitutional actions and policies of the Federal government and the Federal Reserve. We have no way of knowing the point of no return. Various pundits have predicted the demise of the American dream since 1860. While it is true that steps have been taken and accepted by the people which have limited freedom to a degree, all of the pundits who have predicted the end of the American dream have been wrong.

They have been wrong because they have underestimated the American system and people. They have also been wrong because they have not seen the tremendous work of The John Birch Society over the past 50 years to educate and organize against growing government power. Since our organization began, the JBS has literally disseminated many hundreds of millions of pamphlets, magazines, and books. Tens of millions of Americans have seen our movies, videos, DVDs, or in earlier days, listened to our tapes.

Through it all, we have attempted to inform and organize. Both are necessary, because it is people who must work for liberty, just as, on the other side, it is people who work against liberty. The economy, for example, is not some ethereal thing. It is human action. People drive the economy. Some people stifle the economy. Some people seek to control the economy. The Federal Reserve is not a computer, running on its own, it is people ― a few elitists. 

Americans must come to understand that we fight the machinations of people who desire ― lust ― after power. The overriding weakness of many who argue against the policies of the government and Federal Reserve is that they argue academically and rarely point the finger at the real manipulators and controlers behind the problem. The problem does not stem from a religion, or a race; it is a coterie of men from all ethnic and racial backgrounds. The unifying factors, instead, are the fallen human desires for wealth, power, glory, and control.

The Constitution was written to prevent the accumulation of power in all sectors of life, including the economic sector. In order to retain our liberty, we must adhere to our Founders’ wisdom: the Constitution. The only real remedy to all our problems then, is a self-ruling morality, coupled with holding our representatives to their oath to the Constitution.

The purpose of these essays on solutions to the economic difficulties we see boiling out of 2008, is to promote the ideals of the Constitution. However, the broad band of liberty is under attack at several points, economics being only one area. Any point of attack on the Constitution weakens the whole; therefore we have to defend the entire document as law. The Constitution has served us well and shall into the future.

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For the basic background and in depth study of these problems, we recommend the following, all available from www.ShopJBS.org.

• Overview of America, DVD, a short look at our American system and what is right about it.
• Dollars and Sense, DVD, a seminar on money and the Federal Reserve designed for the new comer as well as the student of history.
• The Creature From Jekyll Island,  an in depth look at the founding of the Federal Reserve. The real story.
• The 5000 Year Leap, the principles that have set America apart from the rest of the world.
• The New American magazine, an in-depth look at our political problems and the people behind them, with book reviews of vital new books.

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Peter Steele said:

RE: You Are So Right Mr. Thompson - Can We Get Our Republic Back? Thank you Art Thompson for giving me the truth about America today as she had through years of progressive liberalism and socialism strayed far away from her roots. My late father tried to point this out as his valuable research work attests. He even spoke to the Israel Putnam House Daughters of the American Revolution his timely concerns. It told the people at The Foundation for Economic Education that communism and socialism had been very destructive and it is time to get a Washington-Jefferson type government with pure capitalism in place exactly as my very brave and principled late father wanted. He had no religious people at his death bed and yet he did The Lord's Work for our country. R.I.P. Peter Steele and his late wife Jean Brittain Steele for eternity.

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December 04, 2008
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RichardR369 said:

	Re-education is the key. Obama wants his reeducation camps to educate people that what he's doing, he's really not doing. We're so far down the path of Socialism it's not even funny. People need to pull their kids out of government schools and re-teach the Constitution and the meaning behind it.
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December 05, 2008
Votes: +2

Dave B. said:

Constitution vs. the New World Order God's guidance over the Constitution is sacred. The New World Order is run by Atheist. As we learn more about 911 (500 Architects and Engineers calling for new investigation)we realize the sinister plans of the New World Order. These people are clearly athiest, probably FreeMasons, as no Christian would put our country through such a sinister power grab. They may even have ties to old Nazi Germani. Obama better act quick to end their plan, as people like Obama have no part in their community. God Bless JBS and the Constitution.

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December 06, 2008
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David Fehrenbach said:

	... To save our Republic I propose we first abolish the Federal Reserve. Next, vote out of office and never vote for any politician who is a member of the CFR. That would a good starting point.
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December 08, 2008
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Pat Henry said:

Inflexible law Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. One cannot break economic law without eventual consequences than one can exceed speed around a corner without sliding. A great hope is the homeschooled generation that can learn what the Founders did, avoiding the mesmerizing "news," with its avoidance of questions about first things, never questioning Keynesianism and statism. Besides educating, a practical and local step is advanced by Solari Circles, which just means re-building local community economies out from under the crumbling Internationalism (see Solari website and how to get detached from the "Tapeworm.") Other than to pay taxes, no one has to use Fed currency for daily business.

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December 08, 2008
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obediah said:

... Excellent article over all but does have one significant and most important point missing, where it says, "They also had something that the European Renaissance intellectuals did not always have: a sense of responsibility and deep moral principles"; where did their 'senses' come from, was it not their belief & faith in the God of the Bible & His word, something the European enlightenment rejected. At this late hour we need all the help we can get, acknowledging Him- His hand then & seeking it now strikes me as wise to do.

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December 11, 2008
Votes: +1