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Your duty as a Citizen to understand the Constitution

J

jdog

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The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...

Be sure not to provide anything other than . . . None.
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...

Horribly gross oversimplification of the issue going on here. It is not the fault of any one generation as to why we are at this point, and more importantly your rant offers zero context or qualification for what really would be Constitutional understanding by your standards. Sure, you give us the yearbook statements on "freedoms and rights" and the principles of government limitation. But that is about it, and it serves no meaningful purpose to just rant on about some group (or groups) that do not agree with Constitutionality in your context.

What specifically does a <insert person, or group, or whatever here> have an improper Constitutional conclusion on and why? (In your opinion.) Give us something to talk about.
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...

uh no it is not the duty of the citizen to understand the constitution, in America you a free not to. However, citizens can learn the constitution and become lawyers to those others who don't know it.
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...

So many words yet so little specifically stated to discuss. We the sheeple have "standing" to oppose, exactly, what? For example, the DoED (with a $73 billion annual budget?) is clearly not based on any constitutional federal power of education yet what "standing" (personal harm) can one hope to use to oppose it?
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...


What makes us " endentured servants " exactly ?

Dont get me wrong, there are millions of uninformed voters that believe the Constitution is just a piece of paper or even a " living document ", amd sure there's a concerted attempt to undermine our Constitution by the Left but endentured servants ?

Does paying taxes make us endentured servants ? Govt surveillance of public areas ? Law enforcement ?
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...

Though, I would say it's a little more complicated, I also think that we are going through a period of constitutional crisis of a type. There has been a creeping shift in the meaning attributed to the Constitution that a very large percentage of the population does not follow but that is fundamental as it sets a precedent for removing protections of minorities without formal legal constitutional change.
 
jdog said:
The vast majority of US Citizens are woefully derelict in their duty as Citizens. This is especially true when it comes to their understanding of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is the single most important covenant ever written as it is the contract which ensures the freedoms and rights of the people. It is what separates the Citizens of the US from the subjects of all other countries.
It is not however being followed and abided by, as the Citizens have failed to uphold their duty to educate themselves of the history and the law that the Constitution represents. They fail to understand the principals and the logic that ensures that the people remain the masters and that government remain the servant.

As a result, the government has become the master of the people, and the people have become indentured servants, and can no longer claim to be free in any context of the word. They have sacrificed their liberty for perceived safety and comfort, and have forfeited the rights their forefathers died for without so much as a single protest.

If you truly understood the Constitution and the history surrounding it, you would be sickened by the people we have become and our failure as a society to preserve our inheritance and to preserve it for our posterity.....
Click to expand...

The Constitution gives people the right to be irresponsible citizens.
 
ModerateGOP said:
uh no it is not the duty of the citizen to understand the constitution, in America you a free not to. However, citizens can learn the constitution and become lawyers to those others who don't know it.
Click to expand...

It's the obligation of everyone to read and understand the Constitution. There are way to many people that don't understand it and are perfectly willing to allow others lie to them about what it says. There are alledgedly educated people, here, that don't have a clue what The Constitution says.
 
Fenton said:
What makes us " endentured servants " exactly ?

Dont get me wrong, there are millions of uninformed voters that believe the Constitution is just a piece of paper or even a " living document ", amd sure there's a concerted attempt to undermine our Constitution by the Left but endentured servants ?

Does paying taxes make us endentured servants ? Govt surveillance of public areas ? Law enforcement ?
Click to expand...

Just noting: The Constitution is considered a living document. The reason why is that it is able to be changed through the amendment process. The concept is that only living things change. (A false concept in totality but that is what its based on none the less but it does make sense from a certain POV) It is perhaps best discussed in another thread which is why I'm just going to note it here and not discuss it further in this thread.
 
ModerateGOP said:
uh no it is not the duty of the citizen to understand the constitution, in America you a free not to. However, citizens can learn the constitution and become lawyers to those others who don't know it.
Click to expand...

I'd say it is their duty. A duty does not mean that people "have to" do something. But instead means that it is something that someone should do. People have a duty to do jury duty, but you can get out of doing it if you want to. Simply mentioning Jury Nullification and you're pretty much automatically disqualified in today's society.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Just noting: The Constitution is considered a living document. The reason why is that it is able to be changed through the amendment process. The concept is that only living things change. (A false concept in totality but that is what its based on none the less but it does make sense from a certain POV) It is perhaps best discussed in another thread which is why I'm just going to note it here and not discuss it further in this thread.
Click to expand...

Yes, there's a amendment process spelled out in Article V but thats not what people typically mean when they refer to it as a living document.
 
For Constitutional content if you don't own a copy of the Constitution this is an excellent site:

Guide to the Constitution

For those who want a simplified crash course in Constitutional content, I recommend the following. Of course those who don't want any kind of education in Constitution will likely dismiss this as extreme right wing propaganda and won't even check out the content.

Constitution 101 — A Hillsdale College Online Course
 
Fenton said:
Yes, there's a amendment process spelled out in Article V but thats not what people typically mean when they refer to it as a living document.
Click to expand...

Most people don't know half of what's in the Constitution much less anything else about it. :shrug:
 
apdst said:
It's the obligation of everyone to read and understand the Constitution. There are way to many people that don't understand it and are perfectly willing to allow others lie to them about what it says. There are alledgedly educated people, here, that don't have a clue what The Constitution says.
Click to expand...

No it's not. I know Americans who have never even seen the Constitution. That doesn't mean they are breaking the law.
 
Kal'Stang said:
I'd say it is their duty. A duty does not mean that people "have to" do something. But instead means that it is something that someone should do. People have a duty to do jury duty, but you can get out of doing it if you want to. Simply mentioning Jury Nullification and you're pretty much automatically disqualified in today's society.
Click to expand...

The word duty suggests that you have to do something. AKA a requirement or a obligation to do this. Duty doesn't mean should, it means has to. This is poor wording on yours and the OPs. I'm also not sure of the point here. You can get through life easy enough even without following politics. So this whole premise that there is a duty to understand the constitution is stupid and pointless bickering.
 
Too many people here think they understand the Constitution and think that anyone who disagrees with them doesn't.
How many Harvard Law school graduates do you think we have here?
 
ModerateGOP said:
No it's not. I know Americans who have never even seen the Constitution. That doesn't mean they are breaking the law.
Click to expand...

I never said they're breaking law.
 
ModerateGOP said:
The word duty suggests that you have to do something. AKA a requirement or a obligation to do this. Duty doesn't mean should, it means has to. This is poor wording on yours and the OPs. I'm also not sure of the point here. You can get through life easy enough even without following politics. So this whole premise that there is a duty to understand the constitution is stupid and pointless bickering.
Click to expand...

Depends on which definition you're using.

Examples:

Moral duty: "I have a duty to help my fellow man" : In this case someone believes that they should help their fellow man. They know they don't have to, but they believe that they morally should.

Legal Duty: Cop: "I have a duty to uphold the law" : In this case the cop has to uphold the laws as that is the job of a cop.

The other definitions don't really matter as they're more related to paying bills and stuff like that.

The OP, and me, are referring to the moral duty of people to read and understand the Constitution and the history surrounding it.
 
Fenton said:
Does paying taxes make us endentured servants ? Govt surveillance of public areas ? Law enforcement ?
Click to expand...

I'd say property taxes comes really close to that definition. It's a tax that literally says you don't own your property because, if you don't pay it, it will be taken away.
 
Verthaine said:
Too many people here think they understand the Constitution and think that anyone who disagrees with them doesn't.
How many Harvard Law school graduates do you think we have here?
Click to expand...

How many Harvard Law students actually agree with each other on everything that they believe about the Constitution?

And FYI, you don't have to be a lawyer to know or understand the Constitution. It was not written in legaleze on purpose. Indeed there are quotes from the founders of the Constitution stating that it was written specifically for the layman to understand it. So anyone that knows proper grammar and history can know and understand the Constitution. Not to mention there are many people that are not lawyers and yet are history buffs that know more than you and me put together...and yet they never once got a degree for it. So sorry but your ad verecundiam is a failure.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Just noting: The Constitution is considered a living document. The reason why is that it is able to be changed through the amendment process. The concept is that only living things change. (A false concept in totality but that is what its based on none the less but it does make sense from a certain POV) It is perhaps best discussed in another thread which is why I'm just going to note it here and not discuss it further in this thread.
Click to expand...
Note: The living constitution as you describe it are actual changes to The Constitution called amendments (actually meaning changes) that are official functions of the changing process to The Constitution, not reinterpretations of The Constitution as many (like you?) who ascribe a living constitution to be.
 
cabse5 said:
Note: The living constitution as you describe it are actual changes to The Constitution called amendments (actually meaning changes) that are official functions of the changing process, not reinterpretations of The Constitution as many (like you?) who ascribe The Constitution to be.
Click to expand...

Bold: That is what I said in the post you quoted.

Not sure why you address the rest of the post towards me? Perhaps you could expand on that part?
 
Kal'Stang said:
How many Harvard Law students actually agree with each other on everything that they believe about the Constitution?

And FYI, you don't have to be a lawyer to know or understand the Constitution. It was not written in legaleze on purpose. Indeed there are quotes from the founders of the Constitution stating that it was written specifically for the layman to understand it. So anyone that knows proper grammar and history can know and understand the Constitution. Not to mention there are many people that are not lawyers and yet are history buffs that know more than you and me put together...and yet they never once got a degree for it. So sorry but your ad verecundiam is a failure.
Click to expand...

People have OPINIONS on what the Constitution means.
Unless you have a time machine,travel back to 1776 and ask our Forefathers what they meant.
So even Harvard Law students and historian disagree.
Yet there are plenty of people here who seem to think they know more then either of those two groups.
Vanity has a ferocious appetite,and if anyone here understand appetites,it's chefs.
 
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