"America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed." G.K. Chesterton
Freedom and chaos - Two sides of same coin
The United States of America is known as the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” Brave we must remain because freedom and chaos are irrevocably intertwined. The freedom of Americans to speak, purchase, live, etc. in the manner of their choosing will inevitably create chaos within the systems they interact with.
Freedom and chaos are two sides of the same coin and should be embraced since “Freedom is just chaos with better lighting.” The “freedom/chaos paradox” is at the core of American Exceptionalism and has insulated us from many of the excesses (paragraphs 2 & 3) seen in other countries.
Freedom is messy and risky
Freedom/chaos creates new and wildly prosperous markets. It has enabled the world to communicate at the speed of light and travel globally in a matter of hours. Ideas are argued across multiple media platforms by the entire citizenry.
However, when large masses are allowed to determine the course of decisions and events, controversy will follow. Discourse is essential to success but must be conducted by an informed and moral people. Argument conducted outside of facts and founding principles will result in strife and abomination.
Chaos invites “order”
It is a given that chaos can frighten people and drive them to embrace “solutions” that alleviate their fear(s) and restore perceived order. Absolute resistance to chaos can result in horrifying remedies. The hyperinflation chaos of 1920’s Germany, for example, left the citizenry desperate for financial order. This unrest culminated in governmental change and ultimately the Nazi regime.
Even the American Revolution saw a significant portion of colonists resist the oncoming split from Great Britain. Estimates are that about one third of the colonial population supported loyalty to the king. The perception of chaos (in this instance as a revolution) prompted an instinctual resistance to the possible change.
What price “order”?
Resisting chaos can carry a cost if the change is not managed and accepted. The rise of Nazi Germany provided the spark for the bloodiest conflict in human history: World War 2.
Similarly, the dissolution of Russian societal structures and resulting chaos after World War 1 produced the communist government of the USSR. The Chinese Communist Party also came to power following the chaos of civil war. The total dead from communist oppression has exceeded even World War 2 numbers. Order can be quite expensive.
“Managing” Chaos
Chaos constrained within a moral system of law is a powerful force for wealth and prosperity. The term “creative destruction” was coined by Joseph Schumpter and describes how capitalism promotes what appears “chaotic” but is actually the “freedom” of humanity to create.
Consider all the inventions, business models, medical and scientific breakthroughs and countless other contributions to mankind from one single nation, the United States of America. Simply put: American Exceptionalism is the result of embracing and managing the freedom/chaos paradox.
COS Promotes the States’ Protection of American Exceptionalism
American Exceptionalism is a direct result of the vision of our Founders. It is under assault by forces hostile to the idea of a free and moral people. Convention of States, through its advocacy for restoration of power to the “Several States,” has proposed at the 2023 Convention of States Article V Simulation:
Federal Legislative & Executive Jurisdiction Proposal 2:
Section 1. The Legislatures of the States shall have authority to abrogate any action of Congress, President, or administrative agencies of the United States, whether in the form of a statute, decree, order, regulation, rule, opinion, decision, or other form. This provision shall not apply to presidential action taken pursuant to Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, and to presidential appointments.
Section 2. Such abrogation shall be effective when a simple majority of the Legislatures of the States declare the same provision or provisions of federal law to be abrogated. This abrogation authority may also be applied to provisions of federal law existing at the time this amendment is ratified. The state executive and judicial branches shall have no authority or involvement in this process.
Section 3. No government entity or official may take any action to enforce a provision of federal law after it is abrogated according to this Amendment. Any action to enforce a provision of abrogated federal law shall be enjoined by a federal or state court of general jurisdiction in the state where the enforcement action occurs, and costs and attorney fees of such injunction shall be awarded against the entity or official attempting to enforce the abrogated provision. Qualified and sovereign immunity shall not be available as a defense in such an action.
Section 4. No provision abrogated pursuant to this amendment may be reenacted or reissued in its original or substantially similar form for ten years from the date of the abrogation.
This amendment would empower states to thwart efforts aimed at subjugation in the name of “order.” COS has staked a position that Americans should be “free” from a federal government bent on restricting the pursuit of dreams.
If you agree that American Exceptionalism is in danger and worth protecting, please sign the COS Article V petition and join the cause to put “We the People” back in charge.
