To understand why America worked so well, for so long, you need to reflect
on the nature of settlement; the origins of a fairly unique culture:
While our early origins came primarily from the peoples of the British
Isles, with significant elements from the Netherlands, Ireland, France,
Germany & Denmark--culturally linked nations;--they represented quite
different cultures and value systems; definable subsets of those nations.
The fact is that those who settled in what became one State, very
often, came from stocks that had been killing those who were to settle in
another State, or visa versa, before the emigration of either subset to
the
New World.
What such diverse folk did tend to have in common, however, was a
selection for such traits as adventuresomeness, intelligence,
perseverance--the mettle to carve a new civilization in a wilderness.
They
were to that extent very atypical of the populations they had left. No
one
came here seeking a Welfare State; Big Government; or to be part of some
sort of international movement seeking international uniformity. And
success in every Colony depended upon the assumption of individual
responsibility! With all the cultural differences, reflecting that
diversity
of settlers, the one common denominator was an appreciation that a
Society based upon individual responsibility could thrive.
Our written Constitution reflects the origins of America and the
Americans.
Every aspect of the Constitutional framework depends upon a maximum level
of individual, personal, responsibility. Reflecting the diversity of
values
among the States, it naturally granted no powers to the Federal Government
to try to socially engineer a common culture; common mores, for the whole
of
the Federal Union. But understanding that the growth dynamic of any
people
depends upon maximizing the level of personal responsibility, whether one
is
considering the economy, law & order, education, or what have you, the
Constitution does grant the Federal Government very extensive powers to
introduce a framework of predictability in the sphere of the social and
economic interaction among those responsible individuals in one very
im****tant sense.
It did not dictate ways to handle our health concerns, our personal
associations, hiring patterns, educational pursuits, or anything of that
nature. Rather it addressed those qualities that lead to predictability
in
a free market; that enable the individual to rely on a stable "playing
field," in all his endeavors: Thus the emphasis on "uniform weights &
measures," including the most im****tant economic measure, the monetary
unit--the dollar. Thus the States agreed to give up their right to make
anything but Gold & Silver, media for the discharge of debt; the right to
interfere with the obligations of contracts--with the bargains made
between
citizens;--gave up the right to pass ex post facto laws, etc..
By freeing the citizens and local communities from arbitrary interference,
while establi****ng a maximum level of predictability in the definitions
and
measures within which to operate; we unleashed the greatest economic
miracle in human history. But alas, problems would follow. The America
that was, has almost ceased to be.
We have not consciously abandoned the wise vision of the Founding
Fathers. It has been surrendered in bits and pieces by three generations
of
politicians, who first waffled and dissembled--taking the provisions of
the
Constitution out of context, to use sophistry to justify legislation that
sought to pander to this or that special interest;--then built a tortured
skein of rationalizations on those sham precedents, based upon that
earlier dissembling;--finally graduating to the present absurdity, where
after many months of perhaps the longest Presidential campaign in
American history, only one candidate even refers to the specific language
of the Constitution on any subject. We have now drifted so far away
from personal responsibility, that politicians are about to send out
checks
to an incredibly large percentage of the total population, intended to
bribe
them with our own money into spending that money to try to artificially
stimulate the economy: All without the slightest reference to the
Constitution or sound economics!
In this mad betrayal of our own experience, it is not surprising that we
have suddenly embraced the foolish notion that we can reengineer the
culture
of other peoples; the silly idea that if we can somehow completely subdue
the opposition in 2% of the Islamic world (i.e., Iraq), it will somehow
influence the other 98% to culturally assimilate. Of course, all we are
doing is helping Al Qaida--a band of criminal fanatics, whom we should
have
isolated and destroyed--to recruit new blood with which to bedevil us.
But
having lost touch with ourselves; we are far less likely to understand
what
motivates others.
Meanwhile, vast numbers of third world peoples, who have no affinity with
the cultural values of those who created America, flood into the country,
seeking the material benefits, still apparent from our past achievements,
yet with neither grasp of their origins nor any notion or care as to how
to
preserve them. No wonder, this latter flood does not alarm our
politicians.
In their avarice to hold office at any price; they have, in the great
majority of cases, long betrayed their most solemn oaths to curry favor
with
every special interest the mind can comprehend. They have lost any
concern
for the continuity of America as anything more than a geographic concept.
Yet a culture and economy divorced from every principle of its foundation
can not hope to survive. Progress, both economic and cultural, comes from
building on past wisdom and achievement. It does not come from
sacrificing
the achievements of generations to pander to every crack-brained wish list
that academic theorists or avaricious special interests can devise. We
careen towards chaos in a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted breakdown.
Frankly, my vote for Ron Paul, in the coming Ohio Primary, will not turn
the
tide. But it is the one, small individual step that I can take, to keep
raising the level of awareness in America as to what has been happening:
The one step, each of us can take, to increase the chances that as the
"chickens from our present course come more clearly home to roost,"
intelligent Americans--as a group--will yet wake up. You can count on me
to
take that step.
http://pages.prodigy.net/krtq73aa/decision.htm
[The Real Issues--You
Decide.]
William Flax
Goldwater & Reagan Republican
Cincinnati, Ohio
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