As time passes and as government grows, the more
it takes from us so the less we as individuals are left to
deal with. The human mind can do wonderful things and
learn a great deal but if the challenges in life have been
solved by the government, what are we left to do? By the
act of trying to do everything for us they are condemning
us to over reliance on the government and killing
individualism. Is it on purpose? This is not good for the
soul of America and I think can only lead to stagnation
of the mind and therefore of the country. We need
challenges and we need to figure things out for
ourselves. When we do, we grow our confidence and self
esteem and feel good about ourselves having cleared
life’s hurdles on our own. If problems are solved for us,
what does that leave our minds to do? The word solved
being a very weak word here because I do not think a
government bureaucracy is capable of solving problems,
only exacerbating them.
A system which subsidizes too long someone who is
having difficulty only lengthens the time where they
would find a solution for themselves. Government
prevents growth and inhibits innovation for the sake of
compassion. Is it compassionate to keep people in a state
of anxiety? Yes it will be hard but left alone, a good
person will find a way. They will make changes in their
life but not as long as they have the permanent
government teat to run back to when there is a bump in
the road. People should fall back on family, community,
or their church, and not on a permanent government
program.
When I say a good person, I mean someone who
will get their hands dirty and do what it takes legally to
succeed. A criminal will cheat and steal and there will
always be those who work that way. This is one of the
necessities of government. To catch and punish those
who cheat the system thereby making it safe for the rest
of us to live lawfully. I am more than glad to pay my
share of taxes for this role of government. The problem
is that government does not know when to stop. The
mere fact our so called representatives sit in Washington
makes them think they should be doing something which
leads to more government intervening in our lives. I
believe this is a fault with our government and should be
addressed potentially by having shorter legislative
sessions or possibly term limits. They just have too
much time on their hands and feel they need to do
something to justify their next election.
Since I mentioned term limits, let me take a moment
to put in my two cents worth. Term limits would be a
good idea as an initial thought, but what would it do? I
think it might just give us, the people one more reason to
not pay attention to our government officials. We
already have the ability through elections to make a
House member or Senator a one term official, but we
don’t! That simply needs to change instead of focusing
on term limits. To get term limits changed, the
representatives and senators have to write a bill about the
potential problems they themselves might create. Do you
really think they are going to do that? Be self critical, a
politician? Doubtful.
What does need to change is how our senators are
chosen as I discussed briefly before. Originally senators
were appointed by state legislators per the Constitution
instead of by popular vote. This changed in 1913 by the
17th Amendment making popular vote the method of
choosing Senators. Oddly this was the same year only
two months and five days earlier the 16th Amendment
passed giving Congress the power to tax our incomes.
Hmm…
Although on the surface this sounds like a freer way
to choose but the Founding Fathers were not fools. The
reason they were to be appointed by the state legislators
was to keep them under control of the people of each
state and not subject to the whims of a federal
government. Because of this I think people are less
involved in their state governments because they see
little reason to be. Any effect from not being involved in
state government is difficult to understand when trying
to relate it to their personal situation. So today, senators
are not extensions of or a voice of the states any longer
as intended but are only accountable to a majority of
people who can be swayed to vote for them every six
years. This I believe was a move to a mob rule or
democracy mentality and to consolidate federal
influence on future elections. It was a move away from
the representative republic the Founding Fathers so
carefully crafted.
Just a side note, the word democracy does not appear
in the Constitution because the Founding Fathers wanted
no part of a society based on mob rule, which is the
definition of a true democracy. For example, we have
laws against murdering other people. If you murder
someone, you broke the law and you will be punished. It
would be a travesty to change the law to make murder
legal. We know it would not be right. That is why we are
supposed to send only very trusted lawmakers to
Congress and throw them out if they falter. This is a
system which keeps us safe. Laws are made by 535
highly trusted people to represent the people and signed
into law by a trusted president. Then the law if contested
is reviewed by the Supreme Court to assure the law is
Constitutional. Those on the Supreme Court are chosen
by the sitting president. This again shows the importance
of having a president who has been properly vetted, is
understood to be of sound character, and believes
wholeheartedly in the Constitution as written and the
patriots who drafted it. If a true democracy existed
where every person’s vote was used to create laws, he
who could sway 51% of the voters could do anything.
With 51% of the vote, murder could be made legal. This
is how a true democracy works and why it was avoided
by the Founding Fathers completely. So whenever I here
someone say we live in a democracy, it makes me cringe
because I know they really do not know what are talking
about.
When our representatives and senators think and act
as if they know what is best for us, it is time to take
action by the citizenry. Our opinions have been cast
aside in lieu of an overriding agenda. The only time
when our opinion matters is when elections are at hand,
which they soon will be. Even then these officials seem
to focus on a goal of trying to sway opinion to win an
election instead of merely doing what is right for the
country. I wonder if they think there is a difference in
the two. It is our duty to participate, to be informed, and
to be in control of our government. If we do not get
involved, we affirm the actions of those who will
increase governmental power, increase taxes, and over
burden the people with excessive bureaucracy. It is again
the very nature of government. The decline of freedom is
inherent in these actions.
Those who believe they know better than you have
no interest in consulting with or listening to you. When
your leaders get to a point where they believe listening
to their constituents is a hindrance to their legislative or
party goals, this is an example of the ultimate in
arrogance of our government. To them it is a waste of
their time.
Those in charge of our government and those
in Congress have now reached this point. The problem
for them is we now realize it as a fundamental issue and
a danger to our freedom and our republic. When it is the
case that consulting with constituents is not part of the
process of governance, the necessary oversight and
accountability of government by the people is
eliminated. The streamlining of power held by elected
officials begins to run a muck. Such is the state of our
government today.
This U.S. Citizen
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