Gyroscopic Investing

dualstow wrote: Perhaps it's not the case that our rights are a myth but simply that our hold on them is far more tenuous than we believed.

I often find myself discussing some political thing with a friend or family member and they exclaim, "They can't do that… it's against the constitution!"

But the constitution is nothing more than the rulebook for the U.S. government. And as with any other rulebook, a rule that is not both followed and enforced is meaningless; it might as well not exist, despite its presence in the rulebook.

The people who make sure that the rules in the constitution are followed and enforced are, for the most part, lawyers and activists--of both the money-rich and time-rich varieties. Without them, the constitution is nothing more than a quaint historical document that sheds light on what people used to believe.

When a person's rights are violated and that person does not seek or obtain recompense for their injury or the punishment of the perpetrator, it is as if that person never had the violated right to begin with. It did them no good, neither making them whole, nor punishing the guilty party, nor even preventing their victimization in the first place. In this case, the right remains nothing more than a comforting fantasy which may be transformed into a venomous resentment.

So true. Of course, we've got a good thing going in the States -- it's all relative -- and as long as we have a functioning free press, we're in better shape than many other countries. But the situation is more dire than I let myself believe in the past. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.