Who Is Responsible for Who? Government or People?
May 3rd 2010 04:20
The driving force behind the founding of our great nation was one primary motivation – LIBERTY! Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men.” From this we learn that our government was instituted to secure three rights for its people, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” On the flipside, the government is to protect us from anything that would threaten our “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
The government and its preservation was not the primary reason for the founding of the United States. Today, we somehow get the impression that everything we hold near and dear rises or falls with Washington DC. In a sense, we have the tail (government) wagging the dog (citizens). Everything from Health Care Reform to Immigration Reform, from Financial Reform to Wall Street Reform, and from Environmental Reform to Education Reform is about the tail wagging the dog. When the tail is wagging the dog, the primary objective of the tail becomes that of self-preservation.
It does not take a political genius to recognize many decisions made, policies written and votes cast in Washington are for the express purpose of the self-preservation of our government and/or its elected officials. Both the Republicans and Democrats have as one of their objectives “taking care of their own”, many times at the expense of the American people.
The government is not the end; it is the means to the end. In other words, the government is not the objective; it is simply a tool to be utilized in reaching the objective which is protecting the rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Jefferson wrote, “That whenever ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.”
Jefferson made the point very clear, “we the people have a right to alter or abolish ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT that becomes destructive to liberty.” We have been given access to that right through the voting process. Jefferson was not promoting anarchy, but participation in the process. Seldom, if ever, do more than 50% of the registered voters turn out for an election. More often than not, the numbers are 10%-15%. There is great concern over the number of czars that President Obama has placed in power – people who are not answerable or accountable to the citizens of the United States, much less Congress. While there is reason for concern, we must not forget that we the people elected the very president who is making these decisions and appointments.
While many would say, “I did not vote for Obama”, there are many more who would say, “I did not vote for anyone.” Therein lies much of the problem – the people (dog) is not wagging the tail (government) through participation in the election process. It is understood that many would say, “McCain was not an option”, but we must remember it is the people who made McCain the option in the primaries.
We have tremendous power as people; even to the abolishing of any form of government that ceases to fulfill its purpose of securing and protecting the rights and liberty of the American people. While it is true that God has called upon us to pray for the leaders of our land; that is not an excuse for us to stand by and allow good to be overcome by evil or justice to be overcome by corruption.
The news media has done more to divide our country than any other venue with both the liberal and conservative outlets playing their role. For many in the news media, the self-preservation of their ratings is of far greater value than our nation coming together as a unified body around the principles of personal liberty. This is why they exploit the extremists on both sides rather than the majority of Americans who walk together in the mainstream. The news media presents the news as if the tail (government) is wagging the dog (people).
When the government stops protecting the liberties of its citizens, and especially when it begins to stifle those liberties, it has become a “destructive” power, and needs to be altered or abolished. The 2010 election cycle offers the American citizens the first option, that of altering the government by voting into office leaders that will put the country back into the hands of the people. That is done by the government protecting the policies that are already in place, rather than rewriting the policies and mandating the people to live within the confines of those reforms.
It is not for the citizens to reflect the values and principles of the government, but for the government to reflect the values and principles of the citizens. When our elected officials make decisions without regard to the polls and in complete disregard for the American people; the government is in effect mandating the American people to give up their liberties in order to meet the mandates that are imposed upon them by their government.
Theodore Roosevelt may have said it best when he made the following statement, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth–whether about the President or anyone else.”
Patriotism means we love freedom to the point of having the personal willingness to defend it. It means we understand that our freedom is a gift from God not to be trampled upon by man. It means that our government has only one legitimate function: to protect our God-given freedom.
The government and its preservation was not the primary reason for the founding of the United States. Today, we somehow get the impression that everything we hold near and dear rises or falls with Washington DC. In a sense, we have the tail (government) wagging the dog (citizens). Everything from Health Care Reform to Immigration Reform, from Financial Reform to Wall Street Reform, and from Environmental Reform to Education Reform is about the tail wagging the dog. When the tail is wagging the dog, the primary objective of the tail becomes that of self-preservation.
It does not take a political genius to recognize many decisions made, policies written and votes cast in Washington are for the express purpose of the self-preservation of our government and/or its elected officials. Both the Republicans and Democrats have as one of their objectives “taking care of their own”, many times at the expense of the American people.
The government is not the end; it is the means to the end. In other words, the government is not the objective; it is simply a tool to be utilized in reaching the objective which is protecting the rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Jefferson wrote, “That whenever ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.”
Jefferson made the point very clear, “we the people have a right to alter or abolish ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT that becomes destructive to liberty.” We have been given access to that right through the voting process. Jefferson was not promoting anarchy, but participation in the process. Seldom, if ever, do more than 50% of the registered voters turn out for an election. More often than not, the numbers are 10%-15%. There is great concern over the number of czars that President Obama has placed in power – people who are not answerable or accountable to the citizens of the United States, much less Congress. While there is reason for concern, we must not forget that we the people elected the very president who is making these decisions and appointments.
While many would say, “I did not vote for Obama”, there are many more who would say, “I did not vote for anyone.” Therein lies much of the problem – the people (dog) is not wagging the tail (government) through participation in the election process. It is understood that many would say, “McCain was not an option”, but we must remember it is the people who made McCain the option in the primaries.
We have tremendous power as people; even to the abolishing of any form of government that ceases to fulfill its purpose of securing and protecting the rights and liberty of the American people. While it is true that God has called upon us to pray for the leaders of our land; that is not an excuse for us to stand by and allow good to be overcome by evil or justice to be overcome by corruption.
The news media has done more to divide our country than any other venue with both the liberal and conservative outlets playing their role. For many in the news media, the self-preservation of their ratings is of far greater value than our nation coming together as a unified body around the principles of personal liberty. This is why they exploit the extremists on both sides rather than the majority of Americans who walk together in the mainstream. The news media presents the news as if the tail (government) is wagging the dog (people).
When the government stops protecting the liberties of its citizens, and especially when it begins to stifle those liberties, it has become a “destructive” power, and needs to be altered or abolished. The 2010 election cycle offers the American citizens the first option, that of altering the government by voting into office leaders that will put the country back into the hands of the people. That is done by the government protecting the policies that are already in place, rather than rewriting the policies and mandating the people to live within the confines of those reforms.
It is not for the citizens to reflect the values and principles of the government, but for the government to reflect the values and principles of the citizens. When our elected officials make decisions without regard to the polls and in complete disregard for the American people; the government is in effect mandating the American people to give up their liberties in order to meet the mandates that are imposed upon them by their government.
Theodore Roosevelt may have said it best when he made the following statement, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth–whether about the President or anyone else.”
Patriotism means we love freedom to the point of having the personal willingness to defend it. It means we understand that our freedom is a gift from God not to be trampled upon by man. It means that our government has only one legitimate function: to protect our God-given freedom.
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