2019 New Year’s Perspective
America… Then & Now… Are Our Lives Better?
Another 365 day cycle has elapsed…
– Are you ready to do it again?
– Only this time… maybe, do it Better?
– The real question is… what is Better?
Our United States of America… Unique in Human History
We live in a unique nation, experiencing unique challenges, at a unique time in world and human history… and the uniqueness that is the United States of America has changed dramatically since the Constitution became our guiding principle in 1789… yet our needs as humans and Americans have not.
We still want to be free to choose our destiny, free to choose what to eat, free to choose how we worship, free to speak our mind, free to defend ourselves, and free to use our God given talents in ways that benefit us and our country, yet today, many of these freedoms are curtailed… how did we let that happen?
Something that must be realized is that for each of us to have these freedoms, we have to allow others to have them too… to others, you are part of “the others”… and what allows any of us to do this is Trust. So, what you allow, you receive… like the karmic saying, “what goes around comes around”. This is classic chicken and egg stuff. So, where does it all start?
Mind & Spirit
Since we think about it, it must start in our Mind, right? No… actually we have to go to another level… a deeper place… the place where things like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution came from… we have to go to the Soul/Spirit level… the place where true right/wrong is known. It’s from this place that all of us project our better selves… that part of us that creates positive change… that causes mankind to take a step forward.
The Founders also had to make that choice… whether to follow the normally fear-driven Mind… or access this deeper level of faith-led Spirit. If they had followed their fear-driven Minds, they most probably would have acquiesced and remained as subjects and colonists to King George… but their deeper Spiritual selves knew better… their collective deeper Spiritual selves knew that this was the time and place to establish these Spiritual values in a tangible way… and so these enlightened documents and ways of self-management emerged, and became the beacon for this collaboration of States as well as the rest of the world.
And while most Americans (Then & Now) embrace the fruits and benefits of these documents and the daily way of life they created, sadly, few understood them very well, if at all. Many don’t understand that Trust is what all of this is built on.
THEN & NOW…
I’ve asked people what these documents truly mean to them, and am generally greeted with blank stares.
Rarely do I hear accurate reflections of what was created and how it should be actualized on a daily basis.
THEN
The pre-revolution colonies were a mass of contradictions… teeming with hope, and possibilities… and simultaneously throttled and restricted by centuries (and generations) of traditions, class systems, and party rules. Even though the colonists had unlimited opportunities available to them in this new land, they were constantly reminded and limited by the long arm of their ancestral and governmental past… replete with the trappings and whims of royalty, just to keep it unpredictable.
Because of the Royal ruling class’s propensities to squabble, there were constant wars… and thus a constant need to tax the common people to fund these royal dalliances. This constant and increasing need for monies combined with the increasingly oppressive restrictions are what ultimately caused the colonists to create and send The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America (The Declaration of Independence) to King George III… which in turn precipitated his response to “suppress the rebellion”… which led to our country’s first civil war (1776 Revolution).
After the colonists won their freedom, these United States’ and the first generations of newly recognized “Americans” found that things were much simpler. The after-glow of that first Civil War lingered, and the people enjoyed a new sense of freedom which these fresh set of “rules” afforded them.
Daily life evolved with a focus on establishing new patterns without the constant burden of oppressive rules and taxes levied by a distant and uncaring ruler and government. Instead, they learned to manage themselves, at local and state levels. Gone was the layers of bureaucracy and constant need for long distance communications. Their daily life was simplified because now they were able to “self-manage”.
Sadly, this simplicity and efficiency was eroded by the slow incursion of political party affiliations. Because these early generations of Americans did not heed the founders’ warnings – these self-serving political groups slowly worked their way back into a position of control, effectively isolating and distancing the citizens from their own governmental processes.
Many events have impacted the various generations over the last 160 years… events such as wars, as well as economic and social crisis’… all used by the political parties to strengthen their hold on the governmental processes that run this country. The net result is that the political parties have effectively replaced “we the people” and taken over control of the government and all its processes.
NOW
This political party take-over has effectively put the States back to where the Colonies were just before our country’s first Civil War (1776 Revolution). The parallels are clear… and disturbing.
THEN… The Colonies were ruled by King appointed governors who protected his interests… he also established a government which had little interest in comprehending their daily lives and needs… consequently levying heavy taxes and regulations.
NOW… the States are ruled by political party governors who protect the party’s interests… and the United States is ruled by a politically appointed President. He rules from a separate and distant locale, and has little interest or comprehension of the daily lives and needs of the citizens of the various States… and also levies heavy taxes and regulations.
Remember…
the seat of the power for the national government is not part of the united States…
it has its own separate physical location and legal jurisdiction…
the District of Columbia.
The political parties have consolidated their power and control there…
so everything legally emanates from there.
A GOVERNMENT TAKEN OVER
The most critical thing to comprehend is that we’ve lost control of our government… more accurately, we’ve given control of our government to the political parties… who assured us that they had our best interest in mind… and would “unburden” us from the daily task of managing it… but instead turned it into this self-serving (for them) behemoth… that didn’t turned out so well, did it?
Over the past two generations, we’ve allowed the political parties to morph our government into a gigantic and burdensome entity that makes daily life in these united States similar to that of the colonial period leading up to the 1776 revolution.
Many of you are dissatisfied with the current level of governmental control and overreach into States’ rights issues… into your daily lives. From my perspective, this political party control is “the tail wagging the dog”.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
New Year’s Day is traditionally a time to reflect and make changes… to improve the quality of our lives, both individually and collectively… because one is inexorably linked to the other. We’ve learned that outlandish and far-fetched goals are quickly forgotten and only serve to make our situation worst, not better. Better would be to make reasonable and attainable goals… goals that would benefit us both individually and collectively… and what better goals than those that would focus on dismantling this behemoth that is choking the life out of our united States.
WHAT BETTER LOOKS LIKE
To me, Better looks like the restoration of individual freedoms… States’ control… and a drastic reduction in overall governmental control. How do we achieve that? By learning and understanding how the “game” of life is played in these United States of America. How???
- Study and comprehend the Founding documents… they are the rule book for our very existence as a nation… If you do that, you’ll be surprised to find out that the political parties got their power by taking away your power and denying your authority. To the political parties, you truly are a second class citizen, who can be bullied… and manipulated… and taxed mercilessly… but – wait a minute – isn’t that what caused the 1776 revolt?? (I truly believe that the only reason we don’t have a revolt now is because the majority of the population is so distracted)
- Stop electing and re-electing party hacks… I.E. someone that is owned and groomed by the political parties. Instead, find and elect people who have a genuine interest in your local issues and is an effective spokesperson for your area… whether that be a state or federal elected official. Find people who place your beliefs first, not some political party’s version of what they think you want.
- Return key elected positions – such as the Presidency and Governor’s offices – to non-partisan positions… similar to Judges’ offices. ALL of the original officeholders were that way… focused on consensus building, not partisan politics.
- Study and contemplate the 17th amendment… it removes the States’ Senators from their constitutionally directed participation in the Congress… and gives the political parties official representation in our governmental process – with NO accountability or control by the citizens… it needs to be repealed.
If we focused our attention on just these four things, we would be well on our way back to a Constitutional Republic… to a place of less rules… less government… more freedoms… more opportunities… and most importantly – more peace of Mind and Freedom to live our lives.
Now, that would be a good new year… do you agree?
