Fun on Friday: Happy Secession Day!

I haven’t heard; are we allowed to celebrate the Fourth of July or nah?

You may recall that after Joe Biden was elected, he said if we were good little citizens and wore our masks, we might be able to celebrate with our friends and families on the Fourth of July. But I never have heard if the president gave us our permission slip or not.

By the way — this doesn’t seem to keep with the spirit of the holiday as I remember it.

As I recall, the American consists weren’t keen on asking King Geroge for permission. And when they got fed up with his taxes, they just waved buh-bye. They declared that people have the right to “alter or abolish” their form of government  and establish a new one “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends.”

I’m pretty sure the likes of Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson would have been labeled “anti-government extremists” and de-platformed by social media had it existed in 1776.

Here’s a truth that will probably get me labeled an extremist – on July 4, we celebrate secession.

Independence Day is a secession holiday.

Sorry, Mr. Linclon.

Secession became a dirty word thanks to the Civil War and its association with slavery, but the right to alter or abolish a government and form a new one is the foundation of American political thought. It is rooted in the idea that the people are sovereign and not the government.

In the British system, the government was supreme. It made its own rules and the people were expected to submit. The American colonists said, “Wait a minute! Government wasn’t meant to lord over us; it was meant to serve us and work toward very limited ends.” This is why the United States has a written Constitution that starts with the words “we the people.” It sets the rules and limits for government.

The government isn’t in charge of us. We’re in charge of the government.

Or that’s how it’s supposed to work.

These days…well, look around and you decide.

Most Americans have a general familiarity with the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, but many have never taken the time to read the entire document. Thomas Jefferson used most of his ink listing grievances against the British crown. Once Jefferson established the right of the American colonies to secede from Britain and form new governments, he endeavored to justify such a move.

I find the list of grievances enlightening when placed in a modern context. Reading through the Declaration, I get the distinct impression it might be time for another Revolution (although I would prefer this one be without guns). Here are just a few of the American grievances. Just replace “he” (the King of Great Britain) with Washington D.C. and you’ll get the idea.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: (UN and international law)

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: (Federal agents of every variety)

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:  (Think like a state)

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. (Again, think like a state)

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: (administrative law)

Sound familiar?

And that brings us to the key sentence of the Declaration.

These United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”

Free and independent states.

Not vassals of Washington DC.

Not the subjects of King Biden.

Not under the thumb of big centralized government in Washington DC.

That’s exactly what the colonists fought to get rid of.

Just some food for thought as you watch your fireworks this weekend – if you’re allowed.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. I dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The opinions expressed are my own. They are 100% correct – but not necessarily shared by anybody else here – including Peter Schiff. Click here to read other posts in this series.