“A True Patriot Will Defend His Country From Its Government.”—Thomas Jefferson
The "ideal" vs. the "real"
In the world, the “ideal” exists, at least in theory—the way we wish things were. But more often, there is “reality”—how things actually are. In the ideal world, a country’s government would be on the side of its people, helping them, teaching them virtue, goodness, righteousness, philanthropy, and a godly life which would mean that government was needed only for a few limited duties. That’s the way it ought to be.
But that isn’t the “reality” of government. It never has been, and it never will be. “Government” is not just a “thing,” a concept, and idea. It is, first and foremost, composed of people who have their own lives, beliefs, and goals. In other words, “government” has its own self-interest, too, and more often than not, that “self-interest” (mostly summed up in the desire for power) is antagonistic to the self-interest of its people (which we call “freedom,” and “leave us alone”). Government wants power; the people want freedom. Those two concepts don’t have to be, but too often are, mutually exclusive.
There is only so much “power” to be had in any society or political entity. People “power”—the right from God to a virtuous life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness—is called “freedom.” Government power—to pass laws, control people, and pursue its own self-interest—is called “tyranny.” Government power can be useful if it is controlled and directed to certain necessary ends. That is what our Founding Fathers tried to do with our written Constitution. Unfortunately, the current American government has gone far, far beyond the powers defined for it in our Constitution. Read the Constitution sometime. You won’t find in that document 99.9% of what Congress and the President do if you read it till your eyeballs fell out (one might also add most Supreme Court decisions). Our federal government pays absolutely no attention to the Constitution. It does whatever it can get away with. We could, and should, call it a “tyranny” because that is exactly what it is. Today, you have whatever “rights” government allows you to have, and to fight against government for the rights God gave you can be a very expensive proposition. Just ask Donald Trump. How many of us have the resources to fight government? Most of us can’t afford it, so we just give up and submit. Which is exactly what government wants us to do.
Thus, again, Jefferson is absolutely correct. To protect the people’s freedom, government power must be limited. That rarely happens in America, or in world history. Those “patriots” who love freedom and their country will have to protect both from government.
That’s just reality. It always has been and it always will be.