Issue 29.15
Many people I talk to have given up to an extent. Recent laws passed, Supreme Court decisions rendered and bureaucratic edicts unopposed have left a lot of us feeling like we can’t make a difference. Our letters are ignored, our efforts to affect the debate and get people to think have marginal success and the two major parties continue to mirror each other when it comes to important decisions. They only seemingly disagree on minor concerns. They continue to play politics and propaganda games by naming bills the opposite of what they mean and lying to the public in order to get support from those unwilling to actually read and learn what the bills contain. Good examples of this are the Patriot Act and its successor, the recent Freedom Act. Both of them allow collection of mass information including your phone calls, emails and other communications without a warrant. They do now at least have to get a warrant to look at these collected records, but it still is a violation of the 4th Amendment in that it allows government to require storage of your information and access to it is just a rubber stamp away from a judge whose only job is to issue warrants on communications.
So what do we as individuals do in the face of out of control presidents, legislators and judges? The answer lies in the rising generation. We have seen a generation of “me first” and “what will the government give me” people. Interestingly, the young people of today are starting to rebel against that thinking because those who inform themselves realize they are going to be the ones holding the bag and suffering the consequences. We need to expand on that understanding by providing better education about what makes government work for the people instead of expecting the people to work for the government. Many private schools and schools that assist in the education of home-schooled children are arising as more and more parents take their children out of the public schools. Often, a major component of these schools is a strong emphasis on personal rights and personal responsibility. The “commonwealth” school I taught at and which continues to do wonderful things with their students works three semesters on in depth training of young people in laws, government, civics, history and philosophy. The young people coming out of these types of schools know more about the US Constitution and what unalienable rights are than most of our elected representatives.
We just need to expand that understanding to more of our young people and help them realize the dire consequences that staying with the status quo will mean for the future. We of course need to better inform ourselves, our families, our neighbors and our communities. There are many groups that can assist you in this process through town meetings, conferences and on-line courses. The long-term solution however, is making sure the rising generation has the information and understanding they need to turn things around. If we don’t do this, we won’t have the leaders we need in the coming years.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.