The People's Rights
What Are Rights?
If we us The Declaration and The Constitution as examples of what rights are; we come up with a list that includes:
From The Declaration "among these are"
Life
Liberty
Pursuit of Happiness and Property
Alter, Abolish, and Throw Off corrupted forms of government
Consent / Vote
From The Constitution we see some enumerated rights as
Speech
Press
Assembly
Petition
Keep & Bear
Secure in our Privacy
Vote
and with Amendment 9 we retain those unlisted rights:
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
So... If it ain't listed... we still retain it.
Our rights, quite literally are unlimited as unlisted.
Knowledge Is Power
Why do you suppose the government tries to know everything about everyone person? All the better to control them.
As united States Americans, we have the best resources for knowing what rights are; as well as knowing what are government or political powers. These resources (The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America and The Constitution of the United States of America), this knowledge also show us how to recognize when either the people abuse their rights and or the government personnel violate their granted powers or exercise powers not granted.
What Are Government Powers?
We have two statements; one from The Declaration, one from The Constitution concerning the limitations on government powers.
The Declaration states;
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it"
Governments are supposed to get their just and honorable powers directly from the governed people.
The Constitution, Amendment 10 states;
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
If The Constitution does not specifically grant a power to government, that power is off-limits to all levels and branches of government to exercise. We know this as fact because of a later Amendment 15, Section 1 that states:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
We know that every government power touches one of the people's rights. All government levels and branches swear oath to The Constitution, of the United States of America, as is required by Article 6. Federal officers and the military generally swear or affirm to defend, support, and uphold The Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic.
The unanimous Declaration details how to recognize our domestic enemies within our government. Those enemies are tyrants and despots.
Thankfully, because of The unanimous Declaration; the states, counties, and local community governments get their powers directly from the governed people therein. The respective bodies of citizens may not rightly violate the terms of The Declaration, in granting to their respective government levels or branches any power to infringe or otherwise deny, disparage, or violate the rights that are not enumerated within The Constitution of the United States of America.
When The Constitution grants to government a political power; if it is not specifically and solely reserved to the national-government level, as the people of the other government levels may also grant that power to their respective government branches and levels. In this granting, they may not of right make that political power more restrictive than The Constitution of the United States of America authorizes. Otherwise, that right is protected by Amendment 9.
The people's rights are not generally listed (except to better regulate government powers concerning that specific right); except for the administration of justice, as seen with Amendments 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 13.
Where Government Powers, on the other hand, are specifically listed and limited to only those powers constitutionally granted.
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A Unified Nation —believes itself dividedWe, the governed people, are intended to work together to properly control government's powers to equally protect each other's rights. Please subscribe, comment, and encourage others to do the same. Share any of the linked pages or other content within. Get others talking about it.