The Tenther Grapevine
Most of the Tenth Amendment Center‘s efforts since its founding have been focused on opposing the federal government’s usurpation of state, local and individual powers. There are certainly plenty of actions on the part of the federal government in the past century that could fall under that category, with both major parties sharing culpability. Unconstitutional wars, the war on drugs, massive government expansion into health care, education, agriculture…the list could go on and on. However, another threat to local, state and even national sovereignty comes from the international community, specifically the United Nations.
Coming out of the 1992 Rio Summit, Agenda 21 seeks to increase the UN’s power over areas of life ranging from farming practices to housing, all under the guise of environmentally sustainable development. What Agenda 21 really amounts to is a threat to private property rights, free markets and local self-government. Ironically, many towns have been gradually implementing Agenda 21 at the local level through ICLEI, which is an organization of local governments for sustainability. Like many power grabs, it is presented as being for the good of the people, but if one looks at the results of centralization of power at the national level, much less the international level, it is difficult to believe their rhetoric about saving the earth will yield any environmental benefit.
Even the establishment in the Republican Party recently came out with a resolution condemning Agenda 21. Like most good things in American life, however, this did not come about through a massive top-down effort from the Republicans in Congress. It was due to pressure from grassroots organizations, a pressure which has begun to have an effect at the state level.
The social networking sites are abuzz with bits on the push back against Agenda 21 from the bottom up. The Facebook page for Tea Party of Middlesex County, NJ (h/t Beth Kercado) recently shared a link regarding a bill introduced in the New Hampshire House. HB 1634 would ban participation, funding of, or receiving grants from ICLEI within the State of New Hampshire. The bill is currently in committee in the House. While this bill still has a long way to go before final passage, it should be noted that even when certain state sovereignty legislation fails to pass in New Hampshire, other states often take up similar issues in their legislatures, as happened in 2009 with the massive push for Tenth Amendment Resolutions across the country.
While no bill of this type exists in New Jersey, there was a time when no such bill existed in New Hampshire either. Our legislators need to hear from us, and the message must be clear. The agenda of the UN is one of control. Ours needs to be freedom and property rights.
Benjamin W. Mankowski, Sr. [send him email] is a blogger with the Tenth Amendment Center. He writes from New Jersey.
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President GHW Bush is the one who attended the Earth Summit and got this ball rolling...
There are literally bad ideas permeated everywhere and not one of them worse than Agenda 21. We can use our own country as the poor example of Government, what has it done so great, so accomplished that we are begging for it? Thats right, NOTHING!
Having any expectation that a world Government will some how serve as a better example of Government is impossible. The only better example it will show is a better example of worse Government because not all ideas come from those in Government. In fact usually the worst ideas come from those in Government.
Communities buying into this ICLEI is not by informed choice makers, it is done by ignorant choice makers. Not all people think you have to get out and live life to learn life, some think you can go around making it up in your mind and that makes it all right. But in real life you have to review results and those, Oh yes those can some times be revealing.
The idea debt is success is a result stupid is at large.
With the Agenda 21 there is no constitution because national does not recognize individual liberty, they only recognize their own authority.
All of life creates ideas and some in life create really good ideas and in almost all cases that is not life in Government, but rather life in communities building by producing great ideas that sustain communities by producing these ideas very well. As for those in Government went to school and learned to tie their shoes and were good little boys and girls and never tested an idea of their own and because of it are the worst idea makers and by results the worst deciding in all cases.
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"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
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Virginia Right writes a lot on ICLEI and some on Agenda 21. (I am the writer!)
www.varight.com/iclei
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