This I Recall To My Mind, Therefore Have I Hope

English: Detail from Corrupt Legislation. Mural by Elihu Vedder. Lobby to Main Reading Room, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. Main figure is seated atop a pedestal saying “CORRUPT LEGISLATION”. Artist’s signature is dated 1896. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Every day more and more absurd governmental fraud, waste, and abuse is brought to light. The never ending GSA thefts, the despicable, unprofessional, unethical behavior of those in positions of trust and responsibility (Department of Homeland Security, ICE official Suzanne Barr, Representatives and Congressman accepting favored Countrywide loans, Secret Service members, etc.), the fraudulent bookkeeping of the State Department, the unethical loans fast tracked through the Energy Department for corporations favored by administrators; the list goes on and on and on. It’s angering in the degree to which such things are rampant. I’m certain it’s no new thing, and has likely been going on for almost as long as there has been government. But now that we have created an atmosphere in which we the people demand transparency and accountability, it is becoming blatantly clear to the common person just how incredibly broken and incapable the federal government is, even down to its very core.

And yet, Obama wants us to grow more government of this sort. He and the liberal minority want us all to buy in to the idea that growing this broken, deformed machine that at its peak is only 10% functional is the answer to all of our woes. They want us to feel guilty for not contributing more of our own money to the cause of government in the form of taxes, if we earn over $250,000. They want us to feel angry at those who do earn more than $250,000 for not contributing more. Are the liberals truly this mentally challenged? Do they really expect the average, self-reliant, ethical citizen to just accept our station in life and look to this corrupt, broken, monstrosity of a government to lift us to some better position and serve our best interests? It would appear so. But I say I’m not willingly giving one more dime towards this failed entity until the true problem that exists within it is framed and rectified. And what is the true problem with our government?

As our founding fathers aptly observed, America’s freedom and prosperity was founded squarely upon the prerequisite that it be composed of people of strong moral character. Without the individual self-discipline and moderate behavior that springs from morality, the premise of America would utterly fail. Boiling our currently broken government down to its common denominator, the problem is a dearth of people of morality. The government is composed of, and managed by, too many such people. Because of the cracks in their personal characters, the circumstances in which they find themselves which require personal responsibility have the adverse effect of magnifying their moral failings. To place an individual who is incapable of good moral judgment in a circumstance in which they are barely accountable, where they are tasked with responsibly spending other people’s money, and where their deeds and words go unperceived by those whom they are supposed to serve is like putting a fox in a henhouse. Their overwhelming impulse to serve themselves and their own lusts supersede any sense of duty or morality, and they corrupt and defile the office given them. These are individuals entrusted with power and authority who have, by their own personal failings, easily and completely succumbed to the temptations that such responsibilities present. Like a highly contagious plague, we see the symptoms of the presence of such broken individuals in all areas of government. Hence the founding fathers’ original design, that federal government should be kept to a minimum, only as large as was necessary to fulfill a handful of very specific duties and responsibilities towards all of the United States, and that it should be held accountable to the people for its actions. We have made the mistake of allowing ourselves to be deceived, to our own shame, and now we are shouldering the burden of a monstrosity of such magnitude that it threatens to become the oppressor of we who established it.

What we see today is the effect of decades of such rampant, unchecked corruption. If Obama has his way, this is precisely the path we will find ourselves continuing upon as he seeks to make us all pawns in his game of global redistribution of wealth, power, and resources. The evidence is all around us, and has been for quite some time. The slow, steady, insidious removal of religious foundational values from all aspects of the public arena (schools, courts, parks, etc.). The building of compounds on American soil designed to house thousands of prisoners at a time, near to railways for convenience’s sake, and the construction of special train cars designed to hold hundreds of people simultaneously; the recent mass purchases of anti-personnel ammunition by several different governmental agencies, including the National Weather Service; the actions of FEMA during hurricane Katrina, when they summarily suspended the second Amendment rights of the residents of New Orleans and confiscated every weapon from every citizen; the recent update to Army Field Manual 3-39.4 “Internment and Resettlement Operations” to explicitly include the suspension of Habeas Corpus and the use of the military on U.S. soil against its own citizenry; the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act which allows for the indefinite detention of anyone deemed as belligerent towards the government, and the subsequent fight that the Obama administration put up when being sued to remove that specific ability from the law! These are just a few of the things that come to mind which are cause for alarm to freedom loving Americans, but there are many, many more.

This is happening, these things are real. Because we have allowed government corruption to continue, because we have not personally taken responsibility for the government to which we have prostrated ourselves, and because we have not demanded transparency and accountability in order to thwart the sinful nature of people entrusted with the temptations of power and authority, we are now perched on a precipice that threatens to destroy the American way of life for ourselves and our posterity. We can as a citizenry continue to hide our heads in the sand and do as the liberals and pretend that everything is paradise. Or, we can continue to wake up (as we began to do in 2008) and turn up the heat on the government that was put in place to serve us, replace elected officials, shrink it down to a constitutional size, and demand that it behave itself as designed! You must know, accomplishing this will mean that you yourself must not look to others to make it happen; the duty to correct our course lies with you. This means keeping yourself educated on current events, taking the time to vet information that comes to your attention, and being as active as possible in local politics, at the very least ensuring that you, and as many as you have influence over, exercise your ability to vote. Dismiss the liberals’ stereotype of Preppers and become one yourself. Not to the extreme, necessarily, but as much as you are able to do. Stock your pantry with some bulk dry goods and buy a few five gallon gas cans and keep them filled in the garage. If you don’t own a gun, buy one and a substantial amount of ammunition for it. You should also buy a fifty five gallon water barrel and store it filled in the garage. Build or buy a solar, wind, or gas generator so you have some source of electricity. Toss a few chickens into the backyard and supply your own eggs. Learn the simple means to make your own colloidal silver (nature’s potent antibiotic). Think ahead, plan for the “what if.” Looking back in history, stranger things have come to pass than what we are looking at right now. For example, millions of lives were exterminated in Europe while its citizenry complacently turned their faces away. The idea of this is incomprehensible, and yet, it happened. According to Adolf, the secret was to make the lies as big as possible and repeat them as often as possible. Eventually, people chose to believe them. Don’t let history repeat itself here in the United States of America.

One day we will be gone and our children will stand in our place. Therefore, the most important thing of all, next to educating yourself and preparing for the possibilities at hand, is to speak of these things to your children. Cause them to understand the simple basic truths of what freedom is, what it looks like, and what it does not look like. Teach them what the true role of government is, in terms they can relate to. Place in them a proper respect for their flag and teach them the highlights of what it represents. Say the pledge of Allegiance with them daily, and talk about what those words really mean. Watch documentaries with them on American history, such as the series that can be found on Netflix entitled “America: The Story of Us.” Instill and reinforce in them a sense of true patriotism, along with the idea that one day they may be called to some higher and demanding purpose, such as those we learn about throughout history. We as the adults right now hold the key to the future of our nation, just as every generation before us did. It is only through our purposeful defense of our American heritage and the instillation of it within our posterity that future generations have a hope of enjoying the blessed freedoms of which we have been partakers. We have a duty towards them, and we must accept and embrace that duty as one of our primary responsibilities in life. We must produce good, morally sound citizens. The long term solution to ensuring a future supply of responsible, patriotic Americans is to raise up the children in the way they should go. And, as a wise person once said, “when they are old it shall not depart from them.”

As I stated previously, the problem with our government at this time is people. It is filled with and managed by people of poor character and corrupt morals. Call me a dreamer, but I believe that the average American is a good person. What I believe we lack though are good people who understand their place in and duty towards their nation. We must as individuals rekindle a patriotism from within that will motivate us to actually do something about what we see happening. In the Old Testament of the Holy Bible we see that time and time again God’s people wandered away from Him, morally speaking. In a nutshell, they simply forgot about Him because they failed in their duty towards themselves to stay in remembrance. Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, and so if you find yourself ignorant or having forgotten the history of our nation, then correct that situation. Watching those American history documentaries with your children is a great place to start. At bedtime, tell or read them a story related to our country, for in so doing you will also be reminding yourself. Once you have managed to rekindle a zeal for your country and a sincere esteem for those who sacrificed to make all of this possible, use it! Get involved, seek out and join yourself to likeminded people who have done as you. Volunteer to work on a campaign for the candidate you believe in; contribute a little money to the candidate or cause you believe in; work at the polling place in your district during elections; sport a bumper sticker that expresses your sentiment about a relevant cause. Run for office, even! Someone has to do it, right? It isn’t just for the rich or elite; it is a government for the people, by the people, and you qualify as well as anyone else.

Don’t stand idly by and watch everything our country was founded upon dry up and blow away, leaving a freedom-less, indebted wasteland as your gift to future generations. Don’t expect someone else to fulfill your duty for you. Show yourself a patriot, bring yourself into remembrance of what it means to be an American, and as much as in you is, do your duty to your children, your God, and your country. Do so and, who knows, one day our great grandchildren might be reading about you in their history books!