I am an American. I am fortunate to be born a citizen of a nation that was founded upon ideas that I strongly agree with. Perhaps I was conditioned to align myself with these ideas, but with the United States’ progressive detachment of these ideas, it appears that perhaps my views are more anomalous than inherited. My discontentment with the current direction of my country compels me to revise my opening statement: I am fortunate to have been born a citizen of a nation that was founded upon ideas I strongly support, yet I am unfortunate to be born in this nation during a time of departure from said ideas.
First, I would like to note that this article is not intended to bash Obama or Bush or any other individual. Though these people support many ideas that I disagree with, I am aware that these are just a few of many people that share these ideas and rather than attacking the people, I shall attack the ideas. Likewise, I will promote ideas rather than people who support them because I vote based on ideas, not people. Though I like to quote founding fathers, I believe it was the ideas that the country was founded on; not George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, but their ideas. When I vote, my vote is based on which candidate shares my ideas, not who is the lesser of evil or who is most likely to win. Unfortunately, no candidate since I have been old enough to vote (or perhaps in my lifetime at all) has expressed ideas that are in agreement with mine. In this article, I will share what a few of my ideas are and I encourage everyone to write down ideas of your own and share them in response to this. If your ideas differ from mine, write them down and discuss them in response to this article. My goal is for this article to evolve into a discussion of ideas.
I believe in the original ideas for this country, which are elegantly stated in the Constitution. I believe that the government should exist solely to protect the individual liberties of citizens, without interfering or infringing upon other liberties in the process. I believe that people should be free to choose their leaders and make economic decisions. I believe people should be free to practice their religion without government intervention. I believe people should be free to not be associated with religion. I believe that one’s rights should not be infringed upon, regardless of said person’s ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, creed or income. People should be free to do as they choose as long as their actions don’t infringe upon other people’s liberties, viz. murder, robbery, et al. I believe citizens should have economic freedom to spend their money as they choose. I believe in freedom at all costs, even if one must sacrifice some safety to achieve such freedom. I am aware that the more freedom one has, the more danger one will face. One could be safe by staying home in an empty house with padded walls, but said person would not be free. To truly be free one must take chances. I could provide multifarious examples, but most of my beliefs can be aggregated into the basic ideas of freedom. As much as I would love to take credit for these revolutionary ideas, they were conceived long before I was born by the founding fathers of this nation.
During my lifetime, the government has increased its size and power exponentially. Laws and statutes such as the PATRIOT ACT may be intended to protect the liberties of citizens, but said legislation does so at the expense of other liberties that citizens enjoy such as the right to privacy. Some of these laws and legislation may be intended to protect the safety of Americans, but as I previously stated, to truly become free, one must sacrifice some safety. Religion, specifically Christianity, is rapidly integrating with government, which not only alienates people of different religions or no religion, but also takes advantage of people who do share the same faith. Politicians frequently attempt to appeal to people’s religion in attempt to receive votes or support for issues. God, as described in the Bible, would most likely disapprove of being used as a political crutch by the government and would most likely want people to believe in him by choice, not because of government endorsement. Religion is a personal choice that should be left out of politics. People’s social rights have also been infringed upon. A popular example would be homosexuals. I personally do not agree with homosexuality and therefore would never choose someone of the same sex as a love partner to spend life with. But, it is not my position to tell someone else they can’t receive the same benefits as heterosexual couples solely because I disagree with their lifestyle. I reiterate, the government should not infringe upon one’s freedom as long as said freedom does not infringe upon other people’s liberties. I fail to see how two people of the same sex being together infringe upon other people’s liberties. There have been attempts at passing legislation that hinders the liberty of free speech or the right to own a firearm. Unfortunately, this is a slippery slope and the more rights Americans are willing to give up, the more the government will take away.
The government has also increased in size with social and economic affairs, sc. social programs, reparations, and other entities that are intended to benefit people, but ultimately sacrifice people’s economic freedom and create more harm than good. I believe in charity and helping those in need, but I believe charity should be an act of free will, not something forced by the government. Charity would be able to cater to people who were truly in need if that number was vastly reduced to reflect those who truly couldn’t help themselves. As it stands, millions of people leach off an ever growing system of entitlement from welfare, social security, Medicare, Medicaid etc. There is an old quote that states “give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; he will eat for a lifetime”. America is the land of opportunity, not the land of guarantee. By providing aid, the government does not provide any long-term solutions, but instead creates more problems as people become reliant upon government and taxpayers. Not only does the government force taxpayers into charity for individuals, but also for companies. Bailing out a company does not help a company sell goods at a higher rate, it only allows them to stay in business with egregious sales for a longer period of time. This eliminates competition and thus eliminates the overall innovation and progress of companies and individuals. This leads me to my biggest concern in regards to the current direction of the United States-the economy.
Once the gold standard was abolished in 1971, the United States began printing money that wasn’t backed by any value, which has resulted in devaluation. The United States is over 10 trillion dollars in debt, yet the government continues to spend too much money that it doesn’t have (like a credit card). For years the government has been pulling money out of thin air and thus decreasing the value of the American dollar. The government’s current solution: spend more money! The AIG received over $150 billion dollars in government bailouts, which is just one of several similar actions, including the automotive industry, which is negotiating a $15 billion bailout. The senate just approved a $787 billion recovery package and all of this is at the expense of tax payers! This not only fails to support the idea of economic freedom, but also poses a potential danger. The United States is using similar tactics that were used just before the Great Depression and with the current policies; the United States is in store for another depression if the nation is lucky enough to not see a crisis of much larger proportion. I do not enjoy being a cynic, but it is rather difficult to be optimistic about the future. These are not ideas I support and unfortunately, I fear I, along with multifarious other people, will be greatly effected by these ideas.
I encourage everyone to compose your own ideas of how the country should be run and write them down, or even discuss them in response to this blog. Write down your ideas and then share them with other people. Listen to their ideas. Research those ideas along with opposing ideas and do so with an open mind. Be willing to adjust your ideas if you find flaws, but keep these ideas in mind when voting or considering a law or issue. Allow your ideas to dictate your political support, not the other way around. Don’t base your ideas solely around what the government says or what a celebrity says or what a talk radio host says; hell, don’t base your opinion upon what I say! Research everything I have said in this blog along with counter arguments and form your own opinion. Base your ideology upon what you personally believe is most logical. This country was founded upon revolutionary ideas and I believe it will require revolutionary ideas to sustain it.
