(eng) Mack Reynolds by Trample An Empire Down

Author:Trample An Empire Down [Down, Trample An Empire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Professor Bruce Winecoup of the Subversive Party think tank said into the microphone before him, "So now I bring you Comate Jeremiah Kleiser of the National Executive Committee." He turned and smiled at Jed and relinquished his place and resumed his own chair.

Jed got up, took his place on the podium and looked out over the auditorium. There were approximately a thousand students, professors and instructors in the audience. Ordinarily, he knew, the students largely did their studies in the privacy of their own quarters, but the University City was maintained for its libraries, its laboratories, its physical education and sports facilities, for the few live lectures like this one, and for a rallying point where students could exchange ideas— and throw beer busts— in the old tradition of colleges.

He nodded and said, "First of all, I wish to point out that our organization is not without notable precedent in its position."

"It was George Washington who said, The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.' "And it was James Madison, fifth President of the United States and Father of the American Constitution, who said, 'We are free today substantially; but the day will come when our Republic will be an impossibility. It will be an impossibility because wealth will become concentrated in the hands of a few. A Republic cannot exist upon bayonets; and when that day comes, then we must rely upon the wisdom of the best elements in the country to readjust the laws of the nation to the changed conditions."

"Nor should we forget Abraham Lincoln in his First Inaugural Address: 'This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise the constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.'"

Jed looked out over his audience for a long moment before going on. "I think the point is made. We have the right to make any changes the majority wishes. What we need now is the might to back it up."

A student in the front row called up, "Sure. But suppose your Subversive Party was elected and you tried to put over all these changes you advocate. The Supreme Court would declare them all unconstitutional and that'd be that."

Jed laughed and said, "The hell with the Supreme Court. The moment we get in, we're going to declare the Constitution unconstitutional and abolish it and with it all of its institutions, including the Supreme Court. Why should a handful of old men, none of them elected to office by the people, be able to dictate to the country? The Constitution was written for a bunch of farmers over two hundred years ago, and no matter how much patching up with amendments, scotch tape and baling wire has taken place over the centuries, it's still nonsense in this day and age. Was it Madison or Jefferson who

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