Were you aware that George Washington was the 11th president of the United States? Or that a statesman named Samuel Huntington was the first? Why is it that you need the government’s permission for marriage, but not your mother’s? Possibly because marriage licenses were established to prevent blacks from marrying whites?
Not many Americans are familiar with these facts. Actually, not many Americans know their Constitution, let alone their country’s history. Michael Badnarik does. And he’s made it his mission to educate Americans and end their ignorance.
“My job is to make you intelligent,” Badnarik told a recent class of about 50 people. “What you do after that is up to you.”
Badnarik has been studying the U.S. Constitution for 25 years. Libertarian candidate for United States President in 2004, Badnarik travels America, shedding light on American rights and privileges. He compresses 230-plus years of constitutional history into an eight-hour class. His most recent one was at Palace Station Feb. 19.
An animated and passionate teacher, Badnarik doesn’t preach your father’s Constitution. More so, he doesn’t preach the Constitution most learn via public education. Rather, his is, well, politically incorrect.
“I’m waiting for the day when my class gets so popular that the government jails me for what I’m teaching,” Badnarik said. “There’s a lot of information the government didn’t give you in school. Most of what you know is wrong.”
Badnarik is a Libertarian purist. To give an idea of his fundamental nature, Badnarik doesn’t have a Social Security card and doesn’t carry a driver’s license. During a driver’s license presentation, he explained that he holds officers as accountable as they hold him. When asked to sign a citation, Badnarik asks police sign a Public Servant’s Questionnaire. He claimed that many cops would simply let him go, following such a request. Refusing to carry a license (because he says it’s unconstitutional), Badnarik also drives a black Trans Am with a homemade license plate that reads “Texas Sovereign.”
He has challenged the constitutionality of having a driver’s license and so far has been somewhat successful. He has even done prison time in attempt to prove his point. Sounds like the Texas authorities are just turning their head now to avoid trouble. He discussed a recent confrontation in which he heard the voice on a police radio ask if the suspect (Badnarik) was in a black Trans Am, then suggest the arresting cop just let him go.
Badnarik notifies officers with the following — NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN: The living breathing human being you have detained and/or placed under arrest and have in your custody is working in the capacity of a Civil Rights Investigator. He demands all of his rights at all times and does not waive any of his rights, including the right to personal time and property at any time. You are hereby Noticed and Warned that from the time you detained me your actions have been scrutinized. Every illegal and/or unlawful action you take will be documented for civil and criminal prosecution forthcoming under USC [United States Code] Title 18, Title 28, and Title 42, 1983.
His following public servant’s questionnaire cites Public Law 93-579, then asks for the name of the officer, his residential address, name of government agency by which he is employed, supervisor’s name, and whether or not the officer will uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.
Badnarik refuses to be labeled an American citizen because then he’s deemed a “corporation” by his government, which transforms his rights into privileges. Rather, he’s a proud citizen of Texas and an American national. Oh yeah, and he has more guns than the Branch Davidians.
In fact, Badnarik has experienced his own personal Wacos. He wrote the governor of California: “Allow me to state my position clearly and unambiguously. My rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ are ‘self-evident’ and ‘unalienable.’ The Constitution does not grant me these rights; it merely enumerates them. If rape victims were somehow able to pass a law requiring all males to submit themselves for castration, I would willfully disobey it. If you choose to make it against the law for me to own my weapons, I will willfully disobey those laws, too. Please consider this letter my ‘Personal Declaration of Independence.’ I have never been convicted of a crime, and I will never surrender my guns to you, or any other governmental authority.”
One day on a New Mexico highway, driving without plates or a license, Badnarik, needless to say, was pulled over. Police informed Badnarik that his car would be impounded, but he informed police that they were voluntarily violating the Fifth Amendment by preventing Due Process and acting as the judge and jury via convicting him of a crime on the scene.
“I told the officer that it may take me six to 12 months, but if he proceeded, I would eventually own his house and car,” Badnarik said. “I then asked if he owned a jet ski.”
Four squad cars and eight officers later, police eventually returned Badnarik’s passport to him and were off like bats before dawn. Badnarik continued east toward Texas.
“If you don’t know your rights, you can’t protect them. The government doesn’t want you to because you are easier to manipulate when you don’t know,” Badnarik said. “Once you know, be brave enough to assert.
“The government has been trampling on my rights and I’m going to do something about it.”
Badnarik canvases a lot of ground during class. He begins with the missing 13 years of American history, which can easily be dubbed the Articles of Confederation era.
America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, created a country that could be compared to today’s United Nations. Each member was a sovereign body. There were 10 presidents under this document. George Washington, elected in 1789, was the first under the Constitution.
Other territory Badnarik covered included health care. Suppose you are broke yet feel you have a right to health care. You walk into a doctor’s office, instructing him to “fix you” for free. What should obligate the doctor to help?
“No one is going to do their jobs for free so why should doctors?” Badnarik asks.
According to him, government-sponsored health care is inefficient. For every $100 the government funds programs like Medicare, $50 (optimistically) will reach a doctor. The other $50 will pay for administrative costs “like air conditioning.” To this example, if every cent that went to a doctor came directly from a patient’s pocket, health care costs would be affordable.
He also questioned the legitimacy of government-mandated vaccinations. “You show up with a syringe and I’ll show up with a .45, and we’ll see who makes a bigger hole,” Badnarik said.
On Social Security, Badnarik couldn’t help himself. “It’s not often you hear, ‘Mom and I are going on another vacation because we can’t spend our Social Security fast enough.’ Who’s responsibility is it to feed you? Who’s responsibility is it to put shelter over your head? Who’s responsibility is it to save for your retirement?”
In 2006, the Social Security withholding tax was 6.2 percent. Most Americans saw a return (if fortunate) of 1 percent.
There was also education, misogyny and war. But no matter the ground, Badnarik says everything in America revolves around one issue and concept: property. The one rule of thumb in constitutional history is whether or not the issue affects your property. The Constitution exists to protect life, liberty and property. As Badnarik puts it, even a 2-year-old understands the concept. After all, a child’s favorite word is “mine.”
“The government acts like a 2-year-old, but when they yell ‘mine,’ they call it eminent domain,” Badnarik said.
“Which came first — the government or the people?” Badnarik asks. “We created the government and they are supposed to serve us. Somehow, over time, that’s been abandoned. Thomas Jefferson said that the rights you have are the rights you are willing to fight for.”
To Badnarik, the fundamental problem in America is no one understands a right from a privilege. A right is inherent, like heavy is to lead. There’s no way to remove that attribute from that object. A privilege, however, is given to you. A man does not need permission to stroll his own property, but he must be given the privilege to walk his neighbor’s. Privileges can be granted and revoked.
“Your body is also property,” Badnarik explained. “If you do not own your own body, you are a slave.” The government comes in and makes everything about the community. However, “Community rights are a lie. It’s a feasible excuse to get you give up some of your rights for a so-called ‘good cause.’ Happiness is not a group thing; it’s an individual thing.”
Badnarik’s class contained a lot of sad information. But while our government is in power to protect, it’s our responsibility, according to Badnarik, to know the rules and prvent the consitent violation of our rights.
