Whose government is your government?
A friend responded to a post of mine with the postulation that this was not our government. He compared the government to Wal-Mart and said that the government was as much ours as Wal-Mart is. I have had others make the same assertion, and I’ve opposed that thought then as I do now. However, until today, I did not have the words to respond. No, the government has not been acting in our best interests for a while. Occasionally we get thrown a bone, but the government has not thought about the long term future of this country and all of its peoples for quite a while. However, that fact does not change the ownership. This is our government. We still possess it. Until the last person gives up the dream of democracy, this will remain our government. The problem is that so many ordinary citizens have taken the stance of a few of my friends that this is not their government and thus relinquished their power over the government and their responsibility as citizens.
I’m currently reading a book on Thomas Jefferson by Joyce Appleby, a book that I highly recommend as a quick summation of Jefferson. Appleby asserts that one of the big differences between Adams and Jefferson is that Adams felt that only a select few could govern while Jefferson felt that the masses must govern (a note should be made that Jefferson’s idea of the ‘people’ was white landowning males, but I digress). Jefferson threw himself behind the idea of revolution. Jefferson believed that “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” He said that “information is the currency of diplomacy.” Whatever his personal shortcomings, Jefferson’s idealism is much needed in 21st century America if we are to find our way through the fear culture that has resulted in so many giving up so much.
Patrick Henry is attributed as having said, “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” We must take up that instrument, and we must take back our nation from all those, be they on the left or the right, who dare to tell us that they know better than the people what is right for the nation. We must find the best from within our own ranks and give them the authority to lead us forward. We must inform ourselves. We must stimulate ideas. We must move forward. We must not give up our responsibility. This is our government. Let’s work together to fix it.
