The Easy Way Out

It’s not unusual for one to question how a particular state came into being; frequently there are a variety of reasons or causes for any given condition, certainly the current political and economic state of our nation is the result of numerous actions or lack of actions. An observer of our culture would be dumbfounded at the number of contradictions that we operate under, but then the same can be said for many societies in the past. Under the circumstances it would be reasonable to reach a conclusion that it has more to do with the state of our species, rather than with any peculiarity within a given society. Our species seems destined to move through the same cycle time after time, with slight variations during each period. The Founders of our Nation had high hopes for this country, but they acknowledged a real fear that we would not be able to fulfill the paradigm that they laid out for us. One might conclude that this was why they established three branches of government, and suggested that the government should remain small with powers distributed, so that there would always be tension and a balance of power.

            Some of us that have become attuned to the machinations of our political leaders have a tendency to blame the uninformed public for the plight we find ourselves in, but this approach has little value and is somewhat unfair.  Most of us would like to be left alone to plough through life in our own way, and for many that does not include evaluating our political leaders. Our Founders were aware of this attitude and attempted to give us a government paradigm that would satisfy this underlying attitude of the population, so where did we go wrong? While most of the population went through life doing what they felt was necessary to acquire the basic essentials needed to sustain a reasonable existence, there were some that saw an opportunity to manipulate the systems operating in our society. These manipulations occurred in both the political and economic arenas; this abuse has continued through the centuries.  This exploitation has reached a point that it threatens to bring down a system that was the envy of the world. We no longer have the option of letting things slide because the actions required would intrude on our daily lives.

            We, and our ancestors, have allowed the original paradigm establishing our nation to be corrupted by our representatives who are more concerned with their needs rather than complying with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The problems with our current system should be evident to most observers: government has grown too big; supporting this growth has become too costly; taxes, fees, and fines have become burdensome to the electorate; most of the agencies that have been established are ineffective; there is too much legislation that is ineffective or unenforceable; and finally, a majority of the actions taken by the government through the ages do not conform to the Constitution. If one is interested in reestablishing the intent of our Founding Fathers as defined in our Constitution it can be accomplished with just a little thought. Stop relying on the signage on all our roadways, they don’t tell you anything other than the fact that the person is running for office, and frequently they don’t even tell you what office they are running for. If candidates don’t give their positions on areas they will have an impact on if they attain the position they are running for, then put them at the bottom of the list. Beware of politicians that tell you they are going to give you something, but don’t give you the true total cost for the program. If the candidate is running for reelection look at the positions taken in the past to determine if the candidate is using the Constitution’s paradigm to guide them in the decision making process.

            By applying just a little reason to your selection you will be contributing to putting the Nation back on a sound footing. There is an assumption that the concerned electorate would prefer that we move back to the basic values of our original Constitution. It is important that the voter distinguish between our original Constitution and the Constitution as it reads today, remember that there have been changes made to the Constitution that do not reflect the original position. This is one reason that it is so important to know where a selectee for the Supreme Court stands on the application of the Constitution. For All the reasons outlined here it is important that we don’t take the easy way out, the impact on our daily lives it too great.

            Charlie Allo