Implied Promises

 

Ultimate Contract

Implied Promises

Horse Trading

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

            Grant and I consummated a horse trade.

            Neither one of us fully trusted the respective horses, but several things seemed to make the transaction respectable. It was akin to the least of the travails. His horse fit my needs to an extent and my horse fit his needs to about the same measure.

            When the matter of value bubbled up, it was Grant who declared he wasn’t going to accept my money. In a responsive demeanor of mirrored image, his money wasn’t going to grace my pockets, either.

            Nosirree, we were going to do this deal sans monetization. We did more. We shook hands.

            Unbeknownst to either of us, it was to be the last time we shook hands. We lost Grant not too long ago. I miss him. I think about him often, too. Now, I have this big dark Grulla looking at me over the fence contemplating his next catastrophe, and, somewhere on his outfit, a little bay horse is probably opening gates, spreading dissension, and picking fights.

            Neither one of us made out like a bandit, but our handshake was eternal. Implied promises are sealed in such personal action. No contract is more binding.

It is there that your word is your life, and … your life is your word.

Ultimate Contract

The Constitution was written in simple words (of the day) for the express purpose of communicating with the intended cornerstone of our system, the American citizen.  The informed would argue that is forever changed. The fact that the Constitution is, in modern practice, a literary mascot of political operators there is no longer a direct bridge with that cornerstone and the top heavy, corrupt, federal system.

Our second greatest written contract, the Constitution, has been breached and we are too submissive and constitutionally illiterate to defend the freedoms granted by that manifest. The systemic tyrants that force their will on our system are as numerous as they are standard. They can be easily recognized by their annual support of pork barrel orgifests. Absent are enough engaged like-minded brethren and statesmen that realize the implications. They are the ones who understand the symbolic handshake implicit in that original, signed document.

The Constitution relied upon active participation of the cornerstone as well as the common sense derived from the consequences of living under the tyranny of King George (and his successors extant to this day). It was intended to be a binding agreement through the tacit consent of the legal citizenry thus it was the grandest of all contracts.

 In the absence of upholding that purpose, the intended moral standard and the brilliance of the document is adrift.

Implied Promises

There is more.

Case law rather than originality rule our system. The outcome is that the explicit and implied promises have largely been set aside. Every rainy-day tyrant has his own legacy in mind. That is why our country now operates under the unsustainable standard of borrowing $.44 out of ever $1.00 spent on annual budgets. Current and perceived conditions notwithstanding, try to argue the constitutionally derived corruption to do that on an ongoing basis.

It has become acceptable to mistreat the legal citizenry as if it is normal and customary. My rights and your rights have been grossly breached on an ongoing basis. The measure is the constant uptick in debt obligation imposed on each of us. We should be furious rather than accepting.

Starting even with Declaration of Independence and its most basic premise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we have been stepwise chingeled. Now, there will be those of you who will contest the legality of the suggestion that there are rights implicit in those words, but I have come to differ with that.

No, the phrasing is not set forth in the the Constitution, but it is there as the general statement of natural rights and the purpose of our fight for independence that preceded it. It has become an implied promises clause within the national framework and should be as enforceable as any wording in the Constitution. It has there for 245 years, and, if there are only seven words known by the general citizenry of our purpose of government, those it would be.

An implied promises clause is an agreement within a contract that may be unwritten but is enforceable by law based on the actions and circumstances of the parties involved. By simple virtue of each of us being encumbered at birth by nearly a quarter of a million dollars of national debt and unfunded obligations, we earn the distinction of being involved.

Horse Trading

I’ll accept my unbrokered debt with gladness if the trade involves a reciprocal pursuit of happiness.

One of the great things about living life from the perspective of a rural front gate is to understand the implications of this side of the fence. Dealing with engaged likeminded brethren and sisters is heady stuff.

It is constitutional. It is biblical.

It is also self-correcting. It spreads risk. It forces realistic responses to local conditions. It creates bastions of unique heritage. It is the only truly sustainable process of continuity.

As this process of national self-destruction has accelerated, the responses from ranching community have been consistent and nearly universal. There is a trend now toward internalization. We can’t seem to make any headway outside of what we can touch therefore the concentration is being ever more inward.

Questions have been asked, but there are no good answers.

It is a monumental predicament. Even our churches have suffered. Our nation is looking for solutions, and it isn’t going to come from the central casting hooliganism.

The concept of the implied promise must be reactivated with true intent … the implications are immense. 

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “Pepe told me the other day to get rid of the pickups. He is ready to go back to the horse alone.”