America's not THAT bad - repost of comment

This is a reposting of a comment I made on Simply Blogical's post Why America is FAILING.  In this post several criticisms of the current state of the US, and indeed the entire US system of government and the Constitution, are made.  Here is one section which I find rather frustrating: 

Once it becomes governmentally acceptable to contradict the constitution, there is no basis to stopping additional unconstitutional acts from occurring – the constitution becomes futile. For example, once it is made possible to impose taxes for certain things, there is no basis for stopping more taxes from occurring. The USA’s constitutional republic has become a non-constitutional republic, and now legality is determined by governmental figures and without limitations. This will inevitably cause democracy (tyranny of the majority), corruption (alternative motives of government officials), and will result in the overall failure of a nation. Just look at America now. 

I may not personally agree with every political happening in the country right now, but I really think some people overreact and let their emotions get the best of their logic.  The following is my response to his post:

The idea that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (from the Declaration of Independence, NOT the Constitution) has been key to the success of democracies all over the world.  The whole intent and purpose of it is to fight tyranny, so I don't see how you can so flippantly label democracy as tyranny.

As for taxation, I think it's very obviously something that is necessary for the running of the state and vital to its ability to protect the life, liberty and happiness of its citizens.  If we didn't have taxes, what roads would we drive on?  How high would school fees be if there were no tax-supported public schools?  Complete freedom is not freedom at all, but just leads to chaos.  There have to be rules put in place and some sort of organization otherwise everything collapses from natural entropy.  That's the whole reason for the existence of government.  Maybe instead of worrying so much about what freedoms you think are being taken from you, you should focus more on some positive, constructive things that you can do with that freedom.  Otherwise, what's the point of arguing for more freedom when you don't even appreciate what you already have?

Despite many problems facing America today, it is still far from a failed nation.  Have you ever been overseas to a third world country and seen the corruption of government officials, the poverty and disease that's due to war or lack of laws that promote equality amongst its denizens (not always considered citizens)?  There are many better examples of failing states out there other than America.  America may not be perfect, but it sure is a lot closer to it than the majority of the world is.  As the saying goes, let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

It doesn't make sense that you complain that constitutional values are not being respected, then you turn around and attack that very constitution.  The constitution is declatory and formative in nature - the people have the "freedom" to interpret it and amend it as they see best fits the needs of their society.  Don't complain that you're not free enough, then insist that the constitution was not specific enough to define the way the nation should be - it's contradictory to want stricter enforcement of founding principles if you don't want your liberty impeded upon.  Or are you just saying that you want different liberties taken away than currently are?  The beauty of the American democratic system is that you have absolutely all the freedom to fight for that if that's really what you want.

Although they're both important documents in America's founding, be careful about mixing up the Constitution with the Declaration of Independence, and be especially careful about using ideas from one document as evidence in your criticism against the OTHER document.  It just doesn't reflect well on your credibility as an intellectual if you get simple facts like that screwed up (of course we all make mistakes, but let's at least show we did our best to achieve accuracy).  Please understand that I'm not trying to attack you at all, but I encourage you to think through the full implications of your ideas a little more so you don't embarrass yourself as a public intellectual.  I too believe very firmly in the principles of life and liberty, but surely if they're so important, we ought to do our best at getting our facts straight and educating ourselves, as you suggest, so that we can truly make this country and this world a much better place than it is.

This quote by Edmund Burke seems very relevant to this topic: "But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint."  All of us could use a little more wisdom when discussing a matters of such magnitude as liberty and freedom.