...don't mix, neither does the common law and the Roman civil law nor does the republics and the democracy: Oil and Water, by Federal Farmer at Liberty Farms IowaJ. Reuben Clark an attorney, U.S. ambassador and the name sake of the law school at Brigham Young, stated, “…the basic concept of these two systems was as opposite as the poles–in the Civil Law the source of all law is the personal ruler; . . . he [the ruler] is sovereign. In the Common Law, . . . the source of all law is the people; they, as a whole, are sovereign.
During the centuries, these two systems have had an almost deadly rivalry for the control of society, the Civil Law and its fundamental concepts being the instrument through which ambitious men of genius and selfishness have set up and maintained despotisms; the Common Law, with its basic principles, being the instrument through which men of equal genius, but with the love of mankind burning in their souls, have established and preserved liberty and free institutions. . .” regarding this “almost deadly rivalry” and battle between these two law forms for the control of society Cecil B. DeMille asked his audience before his movie, “The Ten Commandments”, in 1956, “are men the property of the State or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues to this day.”
Along this same line of thinking we can ask, “Are you swimming in water or swimming in oil?” If we think of water as a metaphor for the common law system, oil as the civil law or Roman civil law system, and America at her founding between 1776 and 1789 as a big, tall drinking glass which has inside that glass a lot of water and a little oil, (the oil being necessary for those that choose to deal in commercial activity, commerce, mercantilism) we can begin to put our parody into action.
As time passes and the mercantile interests and commercial activity in America grows, more oil is added to the glass. But the common folk, living on their own land, personally responsible for their livelihood, communities, and families are still only in the water. Remember, it is the growing commercial industry that requires more oil.
Move ahead to the War Between the States and Reconstruction. The 14th Amendment and the other Reconstruction acts created a new drinking glass. It is the exact same size and shape as the original drinking glass, and now both glasses are sitting on the same table side-by-side touching each other. Congress poured all the oil, water, and people from the original glass into the new identical glass with the supposed ratification of the 14th Amendment.
Remember the words of J. Reuben Clark,
the oil is the law of the personal ruler, whether that be a king, potentate, or legislative body. The oil grants more power to Congress by consent and contract.
There are basically three ways a man-made government can acquire more power,
- First by conquest or military victory and subjugating the conquered people.
- Second via a constitutional amendment granting new rights and powers to the government,
- Third via contractual consent and application by the people. This happens when a people no longer want to take responsibility for providing for themselves, their neighbor and their community through free will offerings and charity but prefer to relinquish that responsibility to the government, which then regulates and controls all the people.
The original glass represents the original, organic, Constitutional republic founded upon the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the pre-reconstruction amended Constitution for the united states of America. This glass has a lot of water and just a little bit of oil that spilled over, just like when this glass started. However, all the people are now born into the new glass, the legislative democracy, via the 14th Amendment, and if they want to climb over the rim and into the old glass they can chose to do so via Public Law, 15 United States Statutes at Large, Chapter 249, Pages 223-224.
However, right after the war and reconstruction, the new glass was filled with about half oil and half water, due to the mercantile interests of the north winning the war over the southern agrarian culture; therefore, the people did not really need to climb into the old glass, as the new glass, though different, still looked and acted a lot like the old one. No one saw an immediate need to switch glasses.
In 1913 a big event occurred; not as big as the Civil War or the still to come Great Depression and bankruptcy of 1933, but a big event nonetheless. When Congress created the Federal Reserve and implemented the 16th Amendment it added a lot more oil to the new glass and the displaced water flowed into the old glass, but since the people still had some water in the new glass (basically the gold and silver backed fiduciary currency and gold and silver coin) they still felt they had their feet firmly in the water.
In 1933, the depression and the ensuing Federal default/bankruptcy and the subsequent legislation (the New Deal, treaties (Breton Woods) and the courts responses) removed almost all the water out of the new glass. At this time only a few drops of water remained. Everyone was swimming in oil and only their little toe was in some water, the silver coinage; then in 1965 that drop of water was taken out of the new glass and between 1965 and 1986 everyone got used to swimming in only oil. The hand full of Americans still using foreign coin, trade and barter, are the only ones with their little piggy toes in the single drop of water, and then in 1986 a small drop of water was returned by the United States mint introducing gold and silver Eagles into circulation. But by 1986, no one knew how to use them any more as money.
Let’s recap: The old glass is still there, full of water with a little oil, the rims of the glasses are touching so we can climb over to the other glass, Congress made sure of that, with Public Law, 15 United States Statutes at Large, Chapter 249, Pages 223-224, which created the political choice.
Many, out of necessity and some not knowing there is a choice, stay in the glass full of oil and are fighting to have some water put back into the new glass, but fail to realize Congress will never allow water back into the THEIR created glass. They have been working around the clock since 1868 to remove the water, Why would they want to put any water back into their glass? They know there is the old glass full of water , over which they have only limited control, but in the new glass filled with oil, Congress has total control.
In which glass do you think Congress wants to swim? In which glass does Congress want you swimming?
Yet, I believe the most important question yet remains…In which glass will you continue to swim?
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The choice is yours. Read the Red Amendment by L.B. Bork
and join the Not My Government forum to learn more about how to swim in water again.
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