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February 12, 2009

New Americans: Peasants by Vote

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Laura Hollis' article at Townhall today is a must read for all Americans. Unfortunately, the ones that need to read it the most are the "Obama-is-the-messiah" crowd, and they are the ones most likely to avoid reading the piece because it speaks of America's greatness rather than focusing on its faults, and points to the fact "less than 100 years ago, most people across the planet were peasants by circumstance - yet Americans are now at risk of taking their place in the rarefied pantheon of peoples who have become peasants by vote":

[...] While Europe was drenched in blood, what was happening in the United States? True, America lost soldiers in World War I. And even more American soldiers gave their lives in World War II. Yes, America suffered through the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. And yes, America had equality issues still unaddressed in the first half of the twentieth century.

But, even given our country's failures, the citizens of the United States enjoyed relative peace, political freedom, personal liberty, and economic opportunities that the rest of the Western world - even enlightened Britain - could not match. This has not been the exception in American history. It has been the rule.

It is profoundly disturbing, therefore, to see Americans' present-day responses to the current economic blip. Because that it what it ought to be - another hiccup in our history, like so many others we have faced and bested with ingenuity, entrepreneurial thinking, individual initiative, patience, sacrifice, and confidence in the superiority of our system.

But not this time. This time, instead of our leaders inspiring us with uplifting - and historically true - accounts of America's exceptionalism (yes, that is the right word), and the can-do attitude of the average American, our current government fills the airwaves with doom and gloom, and warns of impending "crises" and "catastrophes," unless we sell ourselves to the government, which will take care of us by taking everything we have, denying us control over our own lives, and promising goodies that cannot be paid for. This is not stimulus; it is "stealfromus." It is not security; it is slavery.

It is self-serving deception of the highest sort, completely and resoundingly refuted by history. Our Founding Fathers never saw the Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea, Cambodia, or the Sudan. And didn't need to. They knew enough of government to know that a people dependent upon any form of government would be a people enslaved by it. Nothing in the 200+ years since they lived has proven them wrong.

America was a grand and successful experiment, light years ahead of its time. (And, contrary to what our self-appointed constitutional scholar-President claims, our Constitution does not have a "blind spot." Someone needs to tell him that the Drafters' decision to limit government's power over us was deliberate.) And now, with a single Presidential election, a pile of bad mortgages, and a few giddy and appallingly ignorant headlines, many Americans want to sweep that all away in the name of a 'change' which has been proven fatally flawed time and time again. Less than 100 years ago, most people across the planet were peasants by circumstance. Americans are at risk of taking their place in the rarefied pantheon of peoples who have become peasants by vote.

Please take the time to read the entire article from beginning to end.

Posted by Hyscience at February 12, 2009 6:39 AM

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