Good to Be King:
The Foundation of Our Constitutional Freedom

For Beyond 50's "History" talks, listen to an interview with Michael Badnarik.  He is a Constitutional scholar and was the 2004 Libertarian nominee for President of the United States.  According to him, the United States  is a Communist country. 

All 10 planks of "The Communist Manifesto" have been established over time and currently operational in America:

1. Abolition of private property;
   
2. Heavy progressive income tax;
   
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance;
4. Confiscation of property of all emigrants and rebels;
   
5. Central bank;
   
6. Government control of communication and transportation;
   
7. Government ownership of factories and agriculture;
   
8. Government control of labor; 
9. Corporate farms, regional planning;
   
10. Government control of education.   

Bednarik will be talking about the Constitution and how our constitutional republic should work, based on the visions of our Founding Fathers - a vision that is closely matched by Libertarianism.

America is NOT a Democracy

The United States government is a Republic.  Badnarik teaches that the Founding Fathers abhorred the idea of a democracy.  Many mistake these two concepts as meaning the same. 

"The significant difference, as I see it, is that property and rights are not subject to a vote in a republic...In a democracy, because "the majority rules," you could lose by a landslide...However, such a vote is completely meaningless in a republic, and has no force of law.  In a republic, your land is your land.  It cannot be taken away by the will of the majority.  Therefore, in a republic, the rights and property of the minority are protected from the much stronger majority.   

"If the only purpose for the Constitution is to protect your rights, and if you accept my thesis that all of your rights come from property, then it follows that the only purpose of the Constitution is to protect your property.  The result of the American was that everyday citizens could now own property." he explained.

Voting for a U.S. President is Unconstitutional

Here are some important points from the U.S. Constitution regarding the upcoming Presidential Election that Badnarik teaches:

- Contrary to popular belief, Americans do not vote for the President of the United States.  Only the 535 members of the Electoral College members (selected by the political parties) vote.

As a side note,  Western Illinois University has had a 100% success rate in predicting the next President since 1975, based on their mock elections of Electoral College votes.  This year's 2016 winner: Bernie Sanders!

 - Before the change to the Twelfth Amendment, it use to be that the winner is the President and the one with the second-highest vote count is always an opponent.  "This guarantees that the President will have a Vice President who disagrees with him.  Imagine George W. Bush as President with A Gore acting as his Vice President.  In the  old electoral process, President Thomas Jefferson was saddled with Aaron Burr as his second-in-command," expressed Badnarik.

Also, during times of a national emergency, the President can exercise "extraordinary powers" that go beyond the Constitution.  Since March 9, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared national emergency, allowing past Presidents to allow hundreds of statutes to become Federal law.  Many of the laws are about controlling the lives of all American citizens.

"Americans should write to their legislators to demand an immediate end to our national emergencies and the executive orders that flow from them.  Remember, We the People grant the government privileges, and we can revoke those privileges whenever we have the courage to do so," encouraged Badnarik.

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