Our country is over 200 years in the making and much has changed in that time. When America was founded, the notion was for it to be led by a constitutional republican government, rather than an authoritarian monarchy, as was the fashion of the time. This seems second nature to us now and sometimes it seems like we take it for granted more and more. Our generation is a spoiled one who has grown up with freedom all their lives, lacks the vigilance of past generations and scarcely is willing to lift a finger to defend freedom for oneself – even less for others. I am not totally innocent of this societal laziness myself and I do not claim to be. I believe we all need a wake-up call sometimes though.
Throughout the last hundred years the role of government in people’s everyday lives has increased a fair share. This has left many people less self-reliant and personally responsible than in past times. I do not mean to say that this time that we occupy is not a fortunate one – many advances have been made by humanity recently and there are so many conveniences in our lives now that we can barely comprehend life even only 20 years ago. However, not all the change has been for the benefit of the common man. A fully responsible citizen under small government is replaced by a distant, “entitled” citizen under a nanny state.
I believe America is still the most free and prosperous nation on Earth – but I also believe one should always strive for more. I envision a world where government exists to protect people from coercion and is responsible and accountable to the people. In theory, this is similar to what we have now, but there is much in practice that contradicts this notion. Not all important economic and personal decisions are made by private citizens anymore and government has assumed much of that responsibility. Read the rest of this entry »
