"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, 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" - United States Declaration of Independence
We often forget what it means to be Americans and usually that means we forgot the American history that we were taught in school. Every reputable textbook on American history has a copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in it. If you were anything like me, you never bothered to read them--even though it was assigned. The schools probably could have done a better job making it more engaging and helped us better understand the older English but, they didn't. Those documents didn't really mean much to me as I never really understood them. There has always been an unconscious idea of American principles that I've carried around. Only recently have I been able to consciously express them. I place a much higher value on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence today because of its ideas and its message--also known as the American Way.
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It is hard to know how those who lived through World Wars or economic collapses felt. The biggest history book event that I have experienced was 9/11. The events of the day and the preceding wars and public policies have likely affected my views on politics in ways I'll never know. Without a doubt, the world would be a very different place today if that never happened. For one, I would not be looking at a hole in the ground when I go into Manhattan and I would still have a chance to view the city from atop the World Trade Towers--one of the side-effects of living in New York is that you don't go to the "tourist" attractions.
On September 11th, 2001, I was a sophomore in high school. I know everyone says they'll never forget that day and of all the days in the last 7 years, I do remember that day most vividly. There are some details that I have forgotten but, I remember the "highlights"--as horrible a word to use as it is. I remember the classes I had that day and the closed off part of the cafeteria. One could actually see the World Trade Towers from my high school in Brooklyn. My Dad--at the time, he worked in downtown Manhattan fairly near what is now Ground Zero--had picked me up from school that day and the trains weren't working so there was quite some walking. Some trains did come back online which was of great help as I lived on the other side of Brooklyn. The cable news networks kept showing the collapse of the two towers that day and everyone wanted to know what the hell happened. I was basically glued to the TV, I'm sure, most other Americans were as well.
I was in total support of going after Osama bin Laden and his friends in Afghanistan. Who wasn't? How can any American just do nothing after such an attack? The invasion of Afghanistan in search of bin Laden was as justified a mission as any could have been. It was unfortunate that we switched gears, stopped looking for bin Laden, and invaded Iraq. At first, I was sold on the Iraq War. I was also not even old enough to vote yet so what did I really know? My allegiance to any political party could have easily been had and as the Iraq War quickly turned sour, the Democratic Party had me.
My political-awareness has shot to the sky ever since I was able to vote. I guess it didn't really make much of a difference to me whether I understood the political system or not if I had no say. My parents weren't bringing up politics at the dinner table--in fact, they would be in the populous who abstains from voting or caring--and how many teenagers sit around and talk about politics? College probably made a difference and stereotypically--considering I'm from a very liberal New York--I considered myself a Democrat. I do remember my Dad always being in favor of Republicans because he didn't like the welfare state--ironically, he works for the United States Post Office now. Checking "Democratic Party" on my voter registration form didn't take much thought and I proceeded to vote for the Democratic candidate in 2004--my first election year. I didn't even really know John Kerry's message and if I were to read his platform today, I would probably be sick to my stomach excluding the part about leaving Iraq.
I was pretty brainwashed by the Democratic Party's propaganda and the general leftist liberal messages. Some of it did make sense. I believe that people should be free, civil rights should be protected, and all the other liberal positions on natural liberties. Liberty is one issue that I have a very firm and immovable stance on. Patrick Henry summarizes it perfectly, "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" I believe there is no point in living under a tyranny of any sort be it by a small group or a majority.
I would likely still be affiliating myself with the Democratic Party if I wasn't so interested in money. I don't mean just having it; we all want to have money. It is only natural to want to be well off. That is why we go to college. My interest in money extends deeper than riches in the form of fast cars, gold teeth, spinning rims, or big houses--I'm probably not that into gold teeth or spinning rims anyway. It is my curiosity of how money works that led me to learn as much as I could about economics and to some degree finance.
Once I had a pretty solid understanding of economics, it was no longer possible to support the liberal agenda. It had become illogical. From that point I had considered myself a "Moderate"--not that I knew what that meant. Aligning with some sort of group just seemed important--it was all peer pressure! Since I couldn't support the Democratic welfare agenda or the Republican warfare agenda, I took the middle ground. I knew I couldn't support either major party but, was not savvy enough to look for third parties.
My affiliation with moderates lasted for a while. The votes I cast in 2006 was mainly a message to Congress saying, "leave Iraq." Many other Americans appeared to have had the same message as well. The Congress has not gotten an inch closer in doing so. The inaction of Congress was extremely disappointing. Imagine that, just two years of the "democratic" process and it was able to suck out my enthusiasm. There is this idea of America that I read about, heard about, and learned about but, where is it?
The idea of America is still very much with us. It is in our history, our Constitution, and our Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, not many people from the two major parties are aware that the idea of America is not in the America that they are creating. I come across a lot of liberals in New York and sometimes a conservative here and there. The trend that I've noticed is that they are so caught up in party politics that they forget about the idea of America. One side argues for an increase in welfare programs like universal health care and the other side is all about fighting the terrorists by taking away our rights. Both sides don't think twice before trampling over the Constitution.
The Constitution is a very short document. It outlines all the powers of the United States government and unless a power is stated, it is not a power of the federal government. If we were to ever doubt that, we can just read the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. It tells us that any powers not mentioned are reserved for the States or the people. It isn't the IRS Tax Code. It is not hard to make sure policies are in line with the supreme law of the land.
The American Way is fundamentally very simple with the Constitution at its core. We know that individual freedom and liberty leads to greater prosperity for everyone. It is in a free society where each individual's right to life, liberty, and property is protected that everyone is better off. America has grown to become a great and strong nation in the span of less than two and a half centuries because of these core beliefs. We have brought incredible prosperity to our own people and to the people of the world. Where there are people living in unjust circumstances, our history is their hope. This idea of individual freedom and liberty is not the prevailing thought in human history and not many centuries ago, the majority of people lived under tyrannies; lived as slaves.
Modern America has veered off course under many Presidents from both parties. Regardless of the politicians, we are still a great nation of great people. The American Way is being and has slowly been phased out of public opinion. It is incredibly sad that so many Americans don't understand their own system of government--for one, we are not a democracy but, a republic. History has shown that free people tend to become enslaved if they fail to understand what it means to be free. It is painfully clear that the majority of American citizens have forgotten what it means to be an American when the biggest debates in public policy is about how much government should do for these groups of people or to solve this problem instead of whether government should even be involved in these issues at all.
Our immediate future is littered with gloom and doom. It is going to be hard to avoid at least some backlash after decades of disregarding the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, et al. Our economy is being held together by duct tape and the majority of our citizens would be quicker to embrace socialism than take an understanding in free markets. The news is bad and is likely to get worse. It has taken a long time to deteriorate to where we are but luckily, it will take a lot less time to get back to real prosperity.
I hear a lot of people saying that things are still okay. We are still an economic powerhouse and things could be worse. I certainly agree that things are only okay and could still get worse. I was getting a haircut one day and at the shop was a recent immigrant from China. She was basically complaining about how things are not so great here compared to how it was back home. I don't have much of the details as I can't speak a lick of Chinese without sounding like an idiot so my understanding is going to be fairly elementary. The main thing I took away from having eavesdropped on that conversation is that we have fallen quite a bit if our standard of living can even be compared to those of a Communist nation. Are we now a people satisfied with mediocrity? I've heard many people speak ungratefully about America before but rarely are they able to say they would be better off had they not come here.
I am certainly not going to take her words as truth--I am biased towards my country. The Chinese middle class happens to eclipse our entire population so there is incredible potential there. However, we have roots in freedom that the Chinese just do not. American ingenuity cannot be duplicated by massive government control. We have a fundamental and almost innate understanding of freedom. We are open, kind, resilient, independent, creative, and forward thinking. Those are the qualities that our Constitution brings out in people that are part of the American Way.
232 years ago, in 1776, on the 4th of July, a people declared their independence from tyrannical monarchy rule. On that day, freedom took root in the Americas. Unbeknown to most of human kind would be the incredible prosperity that all man would be blessed with from that day forward. Thomas Paine noted that "the cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind." The cause of America is still ongoing. Throughout our 232 year history, there have been highs and lows. Times when freedoms and liberties were lost and people suffered and times when freedom and liberty provided us with enormous prosperity. Some of us may have become too complacent with the status-quo and forgotten the American Way but, today, freedom is a message whose time has come--again. There is an undercurrent of free minded Americans who remember the American cause and understand the American Way.
On this 4th of July, I urge you to read over the Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson once said, "every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories." If we are to remain a nation of freedom and prosperity, it is up to we the people to keep government in check. And we can only do that if we understand the American Way.
Black Friday PYLE PLHR79 7-Inch Widescreen TFT Headrest Monitor 2011 Deals
Nov 22, 2011 18:54:23
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Black Friday PYLE PLHR79 7-Inch Widescreen TFT Headrest Monitor Feature
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