Posted by
Daniel Neff on Thursday, July 02, 2009 7:54:10 AM
More than any other time of year, this is when we reflect on the birth of this great (once great?) nation. July 4th marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The most amazing document in the history of man. While it is an overused phrase, the founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew what people have done to the republic they created. Then again, they (much more than most in this generation) understood human behavior. Someone asked Benjamin Franklin (after the constitution was drawn up)”Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic if you can keep it" responded Franklin.
And this is NOT, a democrat problem or a republican problem, it is a result of corrupt politicians, people who have not been educated adequately in the heritage of this nation, and......human nature. Congress, and presidents (past and current) have overstepped their constitutional authority and done things, that while they may have seemed like "good things" to do, were in principle, WRONG!
Alexander Tytler, a Scottish-born British lawyer and writer, wrote about the phases a democracy usually goes through, and it usually ends, after about 200 years, in bondage such as a dictatorship.
Tytler listed the phases as follows (source wikipedia)
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.
Now of course, this is the opinion of a man, based on his study of history, and is therefore not exhaustive nor absolute truth, but it is useful for discussion. Going by this list of progression, I would say we are somewhere in the "apathy to dependence" phase. With all of our accomplishments in the 20th century we became complacent. That has been followed in the last 30 years with a march toward apathy. People have come to the place where most feel their vote doesn't count and the representatives don't listen to their voice. We are at a critical juncture in our history. We can beat this "inevitable?" progression to bondage, and it appears that many people are ready to rise to the challenge. The Tax Day Tea Parties are evidence of that. Despite the efforts of the lunatic left wing fringe on some networks to discredit good people getting out and making their voice heard, these tea parties have stirred (or shown evidence of an already existing stirring of) that indomitable American spirit that is unique in the history of human government. People are meeting all across this nation to find ways to change the course of this nation, and help stave off tyranny. Some states have starting passing gun legislation and daring the federal government to overstep it's constitutional limits to undo the legislation. Some states have talked about secession. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but I think there needs to be a willingness to take that direction if the federal government refuses to stay within the constitution. I don't think anyone wants a violent revolt, most people just want this government to be once again, "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people".
Let's hope that Lincoln was right, and this wasn't just wishful thinking:
"and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "