My Fellow Americans,
My name is Charles Olson, and I have a vision of our future which I would
like to share with you
-- a beautiful dream of 50 states independent and free and united by choice.
All that this vision depends upon is: the rules that we choose to live by.
As a nation, for more than two centuries we have lived by a set of rules
called: the Constitution.
And all the laws and regulations and actions of our Federal Government rest
upon the Constitution.
I am pleased and proud to be an American.
But I am not happy with our current Constitution and the Federal Government
which it has created.
And I wonder what our nation's founders would think of our Federal Government
today…
What would Samuel Adams think of our Federal Government's War on
Drugs,
which is actually a war on people throughout our land for engaging in peaceful
private behavior?
What would Thomas Paine think of our Federal Government's global military
-
with over 350,000 soldiers now overseas, on military bases spread throughout
the world?
What would Patrick Henry think of our Federal Government's pre-emptive war on Iraq?
What would Thomas Jefferson think of the sheer size and scope of our Federal Government?
We have not always lived by this set of rules called the Constitution.
Before the Constitution, we had the Articles of Confederation and perpetual
Union.
And before that, our nation existed simply as a voluntary union of free and
independent States.
I say we should give serious consideration to what rules we choose to live by.
I recently worked as a teacher at a pre-school with children ages 1 through
5.
We taught these young children THREE SIMPLE RULES:
1. No Weapons
2. No Ganging Up
3. Stay in the Park
Rule #1 "No Weapons" means "Don't use anything as a
weapon against another child."
For adults and States and Nations, "No Weapons" means:
"Don't initiate force. Force may only be used in self-defense."
Rule #2 "No Ganging Up" means:
No 2 children against 1 child; No 3 against 1; No 4 against 1 ...
For adults and States and Nations, "No Ganging Up" means:
Any union we form should be by *choice*, with no one forced against their
will."
Rule #3 "Stay in the Park" means the children must stay
in the Park.
For adults, it means an awareness of whose park it is:
if I am a guest in your home, then I must respect your rules, and vice versa.
For States and Nations, it means a similar respect for
the freedom and sovereignty of other States and Nations in their internal
affairs.
I believe that these THREE SIMPLE RULES would make
an excellent foundation for revising our Constitution.
My candidacy is a campaign for this reform of our nation's fundamental rules.
This reform is a decentralization of political power -
taking power away from the President and the Federal Government,
and returning it to our states, our local communities, and We the People ourselves.
I envision our 50 States blessed by the guidance of these THREE SIMPLE RULES
-- 50 States creating 50 visions of what it means to live in America the Beautiful,
America the Free
-- 50 States innovating, competing, cooperating
My Dear Fellow Americans,
I believe that our 50 States can be a beautiful example, for all the world
to see,
of how free and independent States can live and work together in peace and
harmony.
Our United States of America can once again be a great beacon of liberty
for our sacred blue-green planet,
our beloved Earth.
This,
with your support,
can be the gift of the THREE SIMPLE RULES.
Thank you.
