Strike Up The Band!
By Gary Aldrich (07/03/03)
It’s easy to be pessimistic. In fact, it’s not only popular to be negative these days, it has become our national anthem. Our default position is to think the worst. Our initial reaction is to believe the flimsiest allegation, no matter how ridiculous.
We turn our country upside down based on junk science. Our reading material would produce suicidal tendencies even in the most optimistic Pollyanna. We read dismal, depressing novels like Angela’s Ashes, then drag ourselves back to the book store for more.
A sunny day? Skin cancer. Too little rain? We’re going to die from drought. Never mind that 80% of the Earth’s surface is composed of water.
Too much rain? Bursting dams will cause crops to rot in the fields. I was talking to a fellow out in the country recently about rainfall and farmers. His country wisdom was refreshing. He said that farmers complain when it doesn’t rain, and then they complain when it does. “But,” he observed, “Farmers are always driving new trucks.”
Negative sensationalism gets endless airtime on network television and unlimited coverage in print. They tell us there are starving children on every block. They tell us there are armies of the sick, unable to get medical care. How they hide these skinny kids and the dead and dying bodies of the untreated is anybody’s guess, but when “they” say these poor souls exist, few question them.
We just know there are many suffering in this country. It must be, because we’re hearing about it all the time.
Independence Day reminds us what good people we really are, and how well off we are. The Fourth of July sets the scene and paves the way for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These two documents mirror the philosophy that forms the foundation for our Declaration of Independence. Reading this Declaration gives us both guidance and inspiration.
For example, it says that “all men are created equal” and that, “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Webster’s Dictionary defines unalienable as “not capable of being repudiated; absolute.”
The rights they describe include “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” We forget all-to-often, however, that the Founding Fathers also included the phrase, “among these,” clearly acknowledging that there are other self-evident rights, such as the right of self-defense and the right to be left alone from an over-reaching federal government.
In fact, the Founding Fathers state that our rights can only be secured by government, but that they derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Early in the Declaration, the Founders observe, “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…”
I take this to mean that if citizens don’t care for the direction of the federal government, or are alarmed by certain decisions made by the Supreme Court, they can withdraw their consent, and “alter” the government. If fact, it’s understood that they have the right to do so. Of course to do that, a large number of people will have to agree that changes need to be made, and a larger number will be needed to convince the majority that significant change is necessary.
Not only have we seen change in this great land before, but it’s actually becoming easier to make changes. Consider talk-radio and the Internet as just two new and powerful ways to reach millions and move public opinion in a different direction. Conservative books also move the message forward; we need more conservative publishers.
The Founding Fathers also state that citizens should not seek to change government for “light and transient causes.” Conservatives could never be accused of that, but Hard-Left Liberals certainly could – if the last two Supreme Court decisions are any measure.
Conservatives should read the founding documents over and over again, and when they do, their spirits will be lifted and their resolve strengthened. All the logic and tools they will ever need to make the positive changes they want are clearly enumerated in our wonderful founding documents, especially the Declaration we’re celebrating tomorrow.
So get the kids in the car and drive out to the park. Listen to the band and hear a few political speeches, relax and enjoy the puppet show. Wave the flag and give a moment’s thought to our wonderful troops serving in foreign lands, bravely defending our country. These young patriots are witnessing real poverty, real terrorism, real discrimination – they have found clarity, but they risked everything to experience it.
Perhaps when they get back home, we should walk among them and search for new conservative leadership. After all, they have just seen the face of human misery caused by an evil dictator with the terrible powers of an oppressive central government.
They have no doubts about why we celebrate Independence Day, and they will remember what they saw for the rest of their lives.
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