I Know Ma Ratts!

Relatively few Americans today devote attention to preserving and protecting the democratic principles we take for granted. Like the frog who's slowly boiled to death in a kettle, Americans are being lulled into accepting more and more government control over their lives. Each successive generation surrenders personal liberties in exchange for not having to preserve them. In my own lifetime, America has gone from the greatest force for good on this planet to a nation of ineffective, lazy socialists. As a result, there is a rise of evil regimes torturing and killing millions of innocents because they no longer fear the United States. We must reclaim our national virtue and morality and lift America back to its place of significance in worldly affairs, but first we need to reeducate our own citizens.

We begin with an understanding of the principles upon which our Founders based their vision. These great men and women rejected the European theories of government and believed that a free citizen could create prosperity for himself and for the nation. In our Declaration of Independence, the Founders declared that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --"

The Founders then went on to identify those rights in the Bill of Rights. It was their intention to provide equal rights for all; but what does it mean when they say that "all men are created equal"?

They understood the difference between equal rights and equality. It was their intention to provide equal opportunity, but not to expect equal results. Take for example our nation's policies on education: We provide, at tax-payer expense, a free secondary education for all (including non-citizens). Granted, there are disparities in the quality of the teachers and the way the school systems divide up the funds, but overall, every child is given the opportunity to learn the basics of what it takes to succeed in life. Because some students do not put forth the same effort, they don't make the same grades as those who put forth more effort. Equal opportunity, but not equal results. Where our school systems fail however is when we lower the standards so that under-achievers can have the appearance of success. In an effort to be sensitive to some, our educational system has stifled the potential of all. America's educational system stacks up poorly behind less affluent nations, and we've lost many high-tech jobs to other countries as a result.

In fact, I believe that failures in our schools can be linked to the quality of the leaders we're raising up. Our Founders were all men who read and studied philosophy, theology, and politics. They were learned men who understood human nature. Our politicians today were taught by the radicals of the 60s and 70s who wanted to trade democracy for an unrealistic utopia. Where our Founders learned from history, our leaders today are taught revisionist history. Our education system has also failed to produce visionaries like our Founding Fathers. Our politicians today spend most of their time blaming the other party and the rest of their time taking more and more taxes to pay for things the government was never intended to be involved in.

The current efforts of the President and Congress to 'stimulate' our economy is another example of where our public servants fail the American people. President Obama believes that it is permissable to take from the more successful citizens and redistribute it to the less productive. Our Founders believed, correctly, that every citizen is entitled to equal rights but not equal possessions. It has been proven over and over that some people can lose fortunes and regain them while others can gain them and turn right around and lose them. What was important to the Founders is that every citizen be afforded the right to pursue prosperity for themselves and their kin. When the government decides to penalize the entrepreneur to subsidize another class of citizen, they violate the law by violating the rights of the affluent. Some may think that's OK, that the wealthy (a subjective term), can afford to lose (have stolen) their possessions and money; but when the government is given that sort of power from the people, they can choose to exercise that power over all citizens. This is why it is important for all citizens to protect and preserve our rights by voting out the greedy and power-hungry politicians.

Alexander Hamilton said that "Inequality would exist as long as liberty existed...It would unavoidably result from that very liberty itself." Our Founders understood that the citizens "cannot delegate to the government the power to do anything except that which they have the lawful right to do themselves". (Dr. Cleon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap) It is illegal for my neighbor to take something from me simply because he doesn't have it. So too, it is illegal, according to our founding documents, for the people to expect the government to take what is not theirs and give it to someone else. This is communism, and it hasn't worked in other nations - which is why so many foreigners attempt to immigrate to America.

Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and now President Obama have advanced the welfare state philosophy in violation of their oaths to protect and defend the Constition of the United States. Our Founders never intended for the government to have power over helping the 'less fortunate'. Responsibility lies with the individual citizen first, then with the family, the neighbor, the church, the county, and then the state. No federal authority to provide for the welfare of our citizens was granted or deemed necessary - yet every four years politicians win elections by promising the people what it does not have the legal right to give; and they deliver by stealing from other citizens.