June 20, 2005

When looking back at history, it is always important to attempt to put one self in the time frame being looked at. We must put issues and events in the context of their time or we risk not truly understanding the cause and effect of events. Our understanding of a particular time is skewed when merely looking back through 21st century eyes.

Take for instance looking at the American colonialists and their rebellion against Great Britain. By today's standards, on the surface, their ideas and attitudes concerning government, representation, liberty and individualism don't sound all that radical. After all, most of us grew up hearing stories of the colonists, and those stories were presented in a positive light. However, when put in the context of their time, the ring leaders were espousing ideas that were considered pretty radical at the time. The colonial rebels weren't just rebels, they were considered fanatical radicals.

In their time, practically every country (especially the European countries from whence the colonists came) had a king, prince or emperor of some kind that ruled over the people. People in general assumed the rights of kings, with the people having little, if any, say in how their country was run. Granted, the colonists didn't come up with their ideas concerning rights, liberties and self rule all on their own, as they were learned men who had studied the writings of Adam Smith, Locke, Burke, the functioning of the ancient Athenian democracy, the early Roman republic, etc. However, to put it all together and come up with a set of ideas that would revolutionize how a people would think concerning the role of government was ‘way outside the box' for their time.

Somehow over time, the people of this land have lost touch with the founder's ideals. We have gone from being a nation of self-supporting, independent minded people to a nation of group-think, entitlement demanding, victimologists. The founders set up a republic of republics. Sovereign states joined together in a voluntary union, where the government of that union had a very limited and clearly defined role. Things were to be taken care of at the lowest, most local level possible and the idea of government handouts and entitlements were unthought of. Government rarely, if ever, touched a person's life.

Today, politicians run for office declaring how they are going to create more government agencies to provide more for people (never mentioning that we have to pay for these ‘services,' which means the feds either go deeper in debt or raise our taxes in one form or another). I watch candidates, especially presidential candidates, bragging about how they have grown or will grow government, and their plans to intrude more into our lives (although they don't use exactly those words). Socialism is the name of the game today. International interventionism is considered the norm rather than the exception.

People idiotically refer to our government as a ‘popular democracy' or simply a democracy. It is neither. We are a republic. (Anytime you hear someone talking about America and they call it a democracy, make note that they are an idiot and should have no credibility with you). The ignorance and mental laziness of the American people has allowed us to drift far away from what the founders had hoped for their descendants. They would not recognize the United States, especially not as the home of liberty they envisioned. They might recognize it as the enemy they fought to break free of: an all-powerful, centralized, oppressive government that rules from afar, not truly caring for the rights of individuals.

Even sadder, those who adhere to the ideals of the founders are a distinct minority in this land. Those who stand on the side of true liberty, true religious freedom as the founders intended, limited government, free enterprise and the rights of men are considered radicals today, just as they were in 1776. This being the case, what we need today is a return to radicalism.

We need a true return to the ideals of the founders. We need principled men and women who will stand up and say "No more" to the concept of an ever-growing centralized government. We need state governments that will act more like the independent entities they are, rather than as mere provinces of a huge, bloated empire. We need the people to not only acknowledge, but demand respect for individual rights (not entitlements), individual merit (not ‘group rights') and freedom from government interference in our lives.

I pray for the return of radicalism, for the return of the people of this land to the foundations that made it a great land. A land where people can be truly free, and there is no king but Jesus. I pray for a radical roll back of intrusive federal government, and that the states will take their rightful place in how our government of checks and balances should work, and that the courts will be put back in their limited, advisory role. It is sad that these ideals are once again thought radical, as they were over 200 years ago, but we need to get radical again if we hope to hold onto any semblance of the liberty our forefathers bequeathed to us.

Jeff Adams

Archives

Does the Death Penalty ‘Prevent’ Crime?

The 17th Amendment: A Backhanded Acknowledge-ment of State’s Rights

A Pox on Both Their Houses!

Do It Yourself

Obey the Government - But not Always

Why We Need the Southern Military Institute

Liberals Fleeing to Canada

Minutemen are Proof Citizens can take back Their Country

The New Liberal Twist on History

Private Pensions and the Government

The Advantages of Republicanism and Negatives of Consolidation