Not So Sure…
In these Great United States we have a unique situation, which leaves us almost nowhere to turn to seek advice and very limited, if any, examples from which to follow. We live in a (supposed) Representative Republic, which is unique in its application. Unlike a true Democracy where each vote counts and majority wins (that happens sometimes, but mostly in local elections and ordinances where it is better suited since every town or county can be vastly different then even their closest neighbors) we vote to elect a group of people who then vote on the major issues on our behalf and (supposedly) in the way that we would have voted. This system works well when the people who are elected are held to account for their actions within whatever office it is that they hold. This particular system does not, however, work well when the voters, as a majority, are uninformed, uninterested and lackluster in their following of the actual goings on of our elected officials. The latter is largely what I see as the current state of politics in the 50 states of the Union.
Examples abound, but let us take the two current Presidential nominees, since they are the easiest to single out. **Political Warning** Some people may be offended by the things I am about to say, just know that at this point, I support NEITHER of these candidates as they have both proven to be at best lax and at worst completely against what I believe to be the most important thing we have in this country… FREEDOM.
John McCain says that he supports freedom (who doesn’t at least say that) and yet he was the co-author of the McCain-Feingold legislation limiting the freedom of speech and he supports the Patriot Act which demonstrates a blatant disregard for our Bill of Rights as American Citizens. I will note that I have no problem with the articles that deal strictly with non-US Citizens, but many of the articles of the Patriot Act infringe on our Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.
While Barack Obama does not support the Patriot Act, he does speak out of both sides of his mouth on two issues that are extremely important to me, the Second Amendment and the sanctity of human life. He has routinely stated throughout this election that he supports the individual interpretation of the Second Amendment, and yet his version must be worded very differently than the one that I have read at the end of every podcast I do because within the structure of “his” second amendment the District of Columbia’s ban on functional firearms of any kind was, in his own words, “Constitutional” (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/obama-common-se.html) and yet that flies in the face of an individual right to “keep and bear arms,” as stated in the Second Amendment. He also has issues with parents being allowed to parent, especially when it concerns reproductive “rights”. I say “rights” because the “right” to have an abortion is not spelled out anywhere in the founding documents, and the reasoning behind the justification of it by the courts is, at best, a stretch if not an outright ludicrous use of our Constitution to promote a political agenda. See Obama’s beliefs on a woman’s “reproductive rights” here: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/12/21/sen-barack-obamas-reproductive-health-questionnaire.
What does this have to do with our unique situation as a stated Representative Republic? Somehow these two people ended up as our candidates for the highest office in the nation, even though most of us will be voting for “the lesser of two evils” come November since we don’t agree much with either but disagree with one more than the other. What has brought our country to this point? There are plenty of possibilities but one of the biggest problems we have as a nation is fear, and the immobility that accompanies it. We have been convinced to give up liberties for fear via The Patriot Act, and somehow were convinced that it was a good idea… Remember always what Benjamin Franklin said in 1775, one year before we declared our Independence from Britain: “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Fear is used throughout our society to achieve the ends that any particular entity is attempting to achieve. Some of these are just fears and righteous causes, however, so many of them are intended only to serve those that profit (in monetary values or in terms of power) from its dissemination. Media outlets feed us a gagging amount of violence, corruption and evil every night. Sure they might sprinkle a little “sunny side” on top of the heap of garbage every now and then, but not more than one or two stories a day. Why? Because your are more likely to stay tuned when they say… “Coming up after the break, are you more likely to commit suicide if you own a gun? Stay tuned to find out.” Then if they said “After the break we talk to a man who raises puppies for a good cause.”
It is just human nature, and they prey upon it to make a dollar or retain (and increase) power. You write me and tell me if I am wrong on this, but in this next Presidential election pay close attention during the campaign and see how many times they use fear of what the other person will or will not do as the basis for their argument that they are better. I can guarantee it will be somewhere between 80 to 90% of the time. 80 to 90% of their arguments will be based on causing you to fear what Barack Obama is going to do for our freedoms or how you should be afraid concerning how John McCain will destroy the country and take us to war with every nation in the world including our allies. Please DO NOT misunderstand me, I know that some of the things that will be brought up will be valid issues (Obama really does want to take away liberties [so does McCain though… that’s another blog post though]). My point is that they will turn them into emotional rather than intellectual issues. It is easier to motivate someone out of fear than out of knowledge that something is right or wrong… that is simply our human nature.
I want to leave with this closing thought: Did we reach this conundrum with open eyes, or open emotions? How did we end up with two candidates that 50% of the people can’t stand in either direction in a Nation where the people are supposed to be represented at all levels of Government? Can we continue in freedom if we allow our emotions to rule rather than logic and a desire to maintain liberty? Remember:
How prone all human institutions have been to decay; how subject the best-formed and most wisely organized governments have been to lose their check and totally dissolve; how difficult it has been for mankind, in all ages and countries, to preserve their dearest rights and best privileges, impelled as it were by an irresistible fate of despotism.
James Monroe, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 10, 1788
If men through fear, fraud or mistake, should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society, would absolutely vacate such renunciation; the right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of Man to alienate this gift, and voluntarily become a slave.
John Adams, Rights of the Colonists, 1772
