We the People

Those three enormous words begin the Preamble of the United States Constitution. What do they mean?

“We” is a personal pronoun meaning “I” plus at least one other person. In this context "we" goes back to the individual and the individual’s God-given inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When “we” as a collective group of individuals give our consent to elected representatives to carry out the business of government (which business is supposed to be limited to those few duties listed in the Constitution) then we are acting as The People.

The People is not a single faceless mass, as despots regard the populations over which they wield power. The People is always made up of “we” the individuals: male, female, young, old, some bright, some slow, some achievers, some lazy, some faithful to God, some disregarding their Creator.

Whether or not “we” as individuals regard God, He never forgets us. He knows each one of us, heart, mind, and soul. We can never allow our elected officials to forget that We the individuals have collectively selected them to represent us, The People. They do not rule over us; they work for us.

We the People must work together to individually hold accountable all government officials at every level—federal, state, county, city, neighborhood.

“The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.”—John Philpot Curran