Friday, March 03, 2006

Far removed from the original idea

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

If we take that and the ideals set forth in the “Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,” then we can see how far we have meandered down the wrong path. The “Declaration” was written to show forth the cause to break away from the governmental control of England, far removed from the wants and needs of such a growing colony.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—“

The founding fathers looked well beyond the scope of their years to see a time when even this government they were establishing might become the same as the government they sought to be free of.

It was a government out of touch with the needs of the people.

It was a government subsisting of it own self realization and whose chief concern was the furtherance of itself at the cost of the people it governed.

It was a government rife with examples of abuses of power and abdication of responsibility to its citizenry.

It was a government for the government.

Today (and for several years now) there are more people employed by the government of this nation than are employed by the manufacturers of its products. Car manufacturers produce cars. Clothing manufacturers produce clothes. Trucking companies produce transportation of goods. Governments produce nothing. They make no money. They only spend.

Spending money, in and of itself, is not an issue. I know it takes money to run the government. I know they provide for our common defense. I know that state and local government provide services to me, for which I cheerfully pay taxes. I have no problem paying for a steak dinner at a nice restaurant and tipping generously for good service. It is all part of buying what I want. I gladly purchase my part in the armed forces securing our borders and our way of life, even in far and away countries. I pay local and state taxes to provide police and fire protection.

Recent revelations about the tragedy called Katrina show a remarkable and complete lack of concern for the citizenry of this nation. It isn’t a lack of knowing, as the government kept telling. The White House didn’t even confirm that the levees had been breached until the day after.

Michael Brown, the former FEMA chief who resigned under fire for mishandling this disaster, said that rescue workers should have been sent to New Orleans earlier, regardless of whether reports about the breaches had been confirmed.

"In emergency management, you prepare for the worst," Brown said on CBS' "The Early Show." "So, whether there had been a breach or a topping of the levees, we still need to be getting rescue people in there immediately."There have been two disclosed videos showing briefings, one prior to the disaster. That video “makes it perfectly clear once again that this disaster was not out of the blue or unforeseeable," Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said Thursday. "It was not only predictable, it was actually predicted. That's what made the failures in response — at the local, state and federal level — all the more outrageous."

Now, Homeland Security, is refusing to release videos from 5 other days (which they first denied even existed).

This is not a Government for the people. This is a government that cares only for its own self preservation. The government has become self aware. Not the individuals within it, but the ‘government’ itself. It is now reproducing itself. It is creating its own reasons, justifications for being in existence. It does not now represent the interest of the people except where that interest is in its own preservation. The government does not serve us. We serve the government. It is in the interest of this entity to keep us fed and keep us working.

We have become the battery feeding the machine. The movie, “The Matrix” was not too far off in its idea, except it isn’t the machines with whom we are at war, it is the government. Even reminiscent are the “Terminator” movies. All these movies claim that we need to watch out for machines and computers becoming ‘self aware’. I am not worried about my computer or my toaster. I am worried about my government. I saw a bumper sticker once that read, “I love my country, but I fear my government.”

I have to say that I agree. I am not abdicating the overthrow of the government by force. I am not a militia-ist. I am not stockpiling weapons. This is my forum. This is my soapbox.

I don’t think one party has the solution over the other. I think both are pawns of the entity known as “The Government.”

For those die hard readers of mine, thanks for listening to my rant. Feel free to chime in your opinion. I ain’t scared of opposing opinions.

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