I think the U.S. Constitution was written to form our government, strictly limit the powers of that federal government, and ensure the freedom of the common man. I think it was a good start, and, instead of being considered the high-water mark of personal freedom, should've been looked upon as a baseline to grow from. Instead, every single guaranteed freedom mentioned in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the further Amendments, has been limited, and geeked, and diluted by the government.

Some things we still have the right to do, like move and travel from state to state and such, but too much of what were once "inalienable rights" are "alienable", bit by bit, and usually supported by us as being "for our own protection". Ben Franklin is quoted as saying "A man who would trade any freedom for security, deserves neither."

I used to consider myself a Republican, and even registered to vote as such for a while. My reasoning was that I more suppported the rights they were trying to guarantee (i.e. no gun control and lowering taxes), and didn't so much need the ones they were trying to take away (i.e. abortion and the freedom to practice any religion, not just any christian religion). I loathed the Democrats for the same reasons: they want to raise my taxes and use the money to buy the votes of the lazy, and take away my guns; and felt I didn't so much need what they tried to guarantee me, i.e. abortion rights and seperation of church and state. I later realized I should hold them both in contempt in that their major tactic has become to take away freedoms from everybody, and make us pay them for the privilege. They're both wrong, and should all be voted out of office.

I then got involved in Libertarian politics, and and thought they might be closer to the right choice. I don't like everything they've got to say, either, but at least they're the only ones who are wanting to return this nation to a place where individual freedom and personal responsibility are the most valued commodities. I eventually came to realize that strict Libertarianism won't work either, as it presumes a "Market" that is at its essence benevolent. Recent financial disasters have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that those who run large corporations, especially banks, are greedy beyond measure, and will run their companies into the ground to ensure maximum personal profit.

I don't know what the right answer is, but the wrong answer is clearly unregulated businesses; infringing on personal freedoms at every turn; all-pervasive and all-invasive survaillance of the citizenry; imprisonment without cause under the guise of "National Security"; torture; and having grown our nation into one where we are governed mostly by professional politicians, and children and grandchildren of professional politicians, a de facto "Ruling Class" who has never known hunger, never known hard work, never known anything but lives of privilege, and rarely even subject to the laws they pass for the governance of everyone else.