Have you ever heard someone say something like “well, I don’t respect the man but we have to respect the office”? My reply to this is – What the heck does that mean?
To me it’s like saying that if the Devil himself was sitting in the oval office you’d have to concede to his authority because he holds the office! How ridiculous is that? The “Office of the Presidency” has, unfortunately conferred upon the possessor, powers that no man should have. It has taken on a monarchal disposition that has allowed mere men to exercise despotic power over the people and even the entire globe at this point. I believe this is largely due to this ridiculous idea of “respecting the office” which has come from decades of brainwashing people, via government run schools, into believing that the Federal Government and it’s offices are “divinely ordained” or something and therefore we must concede to it’s (or their) authority regardless of how corrupt the possessors of the offices may be.
There’s something wrong with a system that would or could allow this to happen. If an office of government confers such power to such corrupt men should it not be abolished? I think that the founders, especially Jefferson, implied that very thing. Actually, the Declaration of Independence says:
“…That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,…”
So has our current “Form of Government” become destructive to our natural rights? No Doubt about it! So then why should we have respect to any office of that destructive government? I see no reason and the only reason, I believe, that so many Americans still give respect is due to a false sense of patriotism and a longing to hold on to the form of something that most considered to be a part of our national identity as a liberty loving, free people.
Jeff Diest, of the Mises Institute, just finished a conversation about the US Constitution that’s very informative and you may learn some things that you didn’t know before. Check it out at https://mises.org/library/should-libertarians-care-about-constitution
(Below is excerpted summary from podcast page)
“Lysander Spooner called it “The Constitution of no authority.” Conservatives fetishize it, but don’t follow it. Progressives want it annulled. So, what should libertarians think about America’s founding document?
Our guests Brion McClanahan and Allen Mendenhall give us the unadulterated history and unpleasant truths about constitutionalism—but also consider its underappreciated benefits. This is a discussion of the Constitution you won’t hear anywhere else.”