The Wrong Oath

Many people, those who take positions in government, in the military, etc... take an oath to uphold the Constitution.  Meanwhile, the document and principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence which led to the creation of the Constitution is given short shrift and little to no recognition as a legal document.

The fundamental problem has been that in primarily defending the Constitution, people give their allegiance to the wrong things.

Instead of holding true to the underlying principles which are the foundation and the reason for the Constitution, they hold themselves dutybound to the vehicle and not the driver.  Thus now when we see government and citizens upholding the laws which have become twisted because it protects a collective over the individual, there is no real recourse to address it because they worship not the reason but the resultant action taken.

The Constitution is a representation of a nation, a set of political boundaries and the laws that make it operational.   When taking an oath to uphold the Constitution, one holds that higher than the purpose it was created to serve.

Ultimately, American libertarians are those who personally pledge not to uphold and defend the Constitution, but the principles and beliefs described in the Declaration of Independence.  For that is what is the real reason and purpose of the Constitution and it has been corrupted.  

Nationalists, socialists, and populists hold true not to the reason, but the collective, the herd, that the Constitution created.  They are wrong.