I am reading Common Sense and on page 37 of my copy I had to pause...
"a serious mind can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and positive conviction, that what he calls "the present constitution" is merely temporary. As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity: and by a plain method of arguement, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand"
There is more, much more, but that will have to wait till later.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Government, the necessary evil
One has but to open the first page of "Common Sense" to see yet another simple applicable truth to today's sham of a government. In his effort to show the distinction between "society" and "government" he says this:
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."
This is precisely the insult upon injury that we suffer today when our elected representatives feign deafness or attempt to minimize us with degrading rhetoric meant to belittle our cries for freedom as nothing more than some crazed half-brained cry babies that can't understand that "The Government is here to help you!". If we wanted to be hijacked by pirates, enslaved, and have our voices silenced - we could certainly get such treatment in some anarchic no-man's land. But we do NOT expect such treatment by those we elect and pay to represent our interests in what is supposed to be a free and representative republic. You WILL hear us, or you will be finding yourselves a new job. We will not furnish the means by which we suffer much longer.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."
This is precisely the insult upon injury that we suffer today when our elected representatives feign deafness or attempt to minimize us with degrading rhetoric meant to belittle our cries for freedom as nothing more than some crazed half-brained cry babies that can't understand that "The Government is here to help you!". If we wanted to be hijacked by pirates, enslaved, and have our voices silenced - we could certainly get such treatment in some anarchic no-man's land. But we do NOT expect such treatment by those we elect and pay to represent our interests in what is supposed to be a free and representative republic. You WILL hear us, or you will be finding yourselves a new job. We will not furnish the means by which we suffer much longer.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
From the Introduction to Common Sense
"The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected"
These words are so true and reflect the clarity Thomas Paine had at the time to recognize the uniqueness of the forming of this nation. We had the potential to go down the same road as all the nations before us, to become nothing more than a new monarchy/tyranny. There were many of the day that would have personally seen much benefit from such an end, and sought to block the way to our renegade notion of a government by and for the common man rather than the elite aristocracy they were lucky enough to belong to. It was not an easy idea to sell, it was totally foreign. It was an experiment that had never really been tried. It is an experiment which, to succeed, must be continually nurtured. We can not turn away from the founding principles which acknowledged for the first time in history that humankind by right of birth alone had certain rights which were not for any other man to grant or take away. It was the first time a government would be created to defend the rights of those it governed - from itself as well as from others. Paine saw with great clarity the deplorable abomination that was slavery as well as the treatment of women as property. He understood the necessity of acknowledging the equality of ALL humankind. Greed, economics, politics, fear and corruption prevented the adoption of his full vision for this country from the beginning. But it was by necessity a painful reconciliation that must come between our aspirations and our reality. But the world watched and saw what we did with little more to work with than hope, belief, anger, and faith. We created a world of possibility which had never been known before. This "American Dream" seems to be something which is now very poorly understood by our populace. They seem to think it means nothing more than the goal to buy a house, have a big screen tv, and 2.5 kids with a dog named Fido. This is the most bland and insulting interpretation of the lofty principles on which this country was founded. The American Dream is the dream of every human being to be able to come from any socio-economic background, to use their own ingenuity and fortitude to create an existence of their own making. To be free from repression and tyranny to pursue their dreams, goals, ambitions - to be free to fail as well as succeed. With no ability to fail, we can never know victory. The American Dream is NOT about easy street, a silver spoon, or a life without consequence. It is not about spending 60% or more of the fruit of your labor to support a political elite class in their goals to promise to "give" you everything you "need". We are a charitable nation, we help those that need it. We give more aid around the globe than any other nation in history - we give our treasure, our blood, and our very lives in the cause of freedom for humankind. But the more that is taken from us, the less we have or want to give. As America goes, so goes the world, so goes hope, so goes progress, so goes freedom. If we are so eager to sell out our freedom - our American Dream - we will not have any of the false promises offered by those that would dupe us into accepting their ideas of a socialist utopia - what we will have is the same mess that much of the rest of the world has. That is not supposed to be the lot of this grand nation. If we let down our founders, we let down not just ourselves and our progeny - but all those in the world who have looked to us as a beacon of hope for freedom.
These words are so true and reflect the clarity Thomas Paine had at the time to recognize the uniqueness of the forming of this nation. We had the potential to go down the same road as all the nations before us, to become nothing more than a new monarchy/tyranny. There were many of the day that would have personally seen much benefit from such an end, and sought to block the way to our renegade notion of a government by and for the common man rather than the elite aristocracy they were lucky enough to belong to. It was not an easy idea to sell, it was totally foreign. It was an experiment that had never really been tried. It is an experiment which, to succeed, must be continually nurtured. We can not turn away from the founding principles which acknowledged for the first time in history that humankind by right of birth alone had certain rights which were not for any other man to grant or take away. It was the first time a government would be created to defend the rights of those it governed - from itself as well as from others. Paine saw with great clarity the deplorable abomination that was slavery as well as the treatment of women as property. He understood the necessity of acknowledging the equality of ALL humankind. Greed, economics, politics, fear and corruption prevented the adoption of his full vision for this country from the beginning. But it was by necessity a painful reconciliation that must come between our aspirations and our reality. But the world watched and saw what we did with little more to work with than hope, belief, anger, and faith. We created a world of possibility which had never been known before. This "American Dream" seems to be something which is now very poorly understood by our populace. They seem to think it means nothing more than the goal to buy a house, have a big screen tv, and 2.5 kids with a dog named Fido. This is the most bland and insulting interpretation of the lofty principles on which this country was founded. The American Dream is the dream of every human being to be able to come from any socio-economic background, to use their own ingenuity and fortitude to create an existence of their own making. To be free from repression and tyranny to pursue their dreams, goals, ambitions - to be free to fail as well as succeed. With no ability to fail, we can never know victory. The American Dream is NOT about easy street, a silver spoon, or a life without consequence. It is not about spending 60% or more of the fruit of your labor to support a political elite class in their goals to promise to "give" you everything you "need". We are a charitable nation, we help those that need it. We give more aid around the globe than any other nation in history - we give our treasure, our blood, and our very lives in the cause of freedom for humankind. But the more that is taken from us, the less we have or want to give. As America goes, so goes the world, so goes hope, so goes progress, so goes freedom. If we are so eager to sell out our freedom - our American Dream - we will not have any of the false promises offered by those that would dupe us into accepting their ideas of a socialist utopia - what we will have is the same mess that much of the rest of the world has. That is not supposed to be the lot of this grand nation. If we let down our founders, we let down not just ourselves and our progeny - but all those in the world who have looked to us as a beacon of hope for freedom.
Where is Thomas Paine when you need him?
When first this country found its voice and dared to cry for FREEDOM, there were the words of one man on the tongues of the nation. That man was Thomas Paine. Few before or since him have so eloquently decried the inhumanity of tyranny in its many forms. I remember my mother, no true fan of freedom as I would later find out, once pointing proudly to a picture of Thomas Paine in her childhood home and telling me that we were related to him. Having a public school education, I didn't know who he was at that time. I have made an effort as an adult to learn about him. I could not be prouder of my heritage, though I admit I do not know how exactly we are related. Now, when the future of the nation he helped to create is in such peril, I can not help but feel a call to remind this country of his message. I will attempt to do that here. I am a WAHM to a high needs 3 year old. I am a disabled veteran of the Army with 9 years of service I take great pride in. I am not some super genius that will spend my precious time trying to impress you with my spelling and grammar ability, LOL! I am here with a message, and I hope those that are interested may find inspiration in its content, if not its grammatical correctness and errorproof typing ;) Freedom was not free, and it still isn't.
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