Posted by
Cal on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 1:37:31 PM
The foundation of democracy, or American democracy, stands upon loose ground. Our Founding Fathers’, using precise and definite language, gave birth to a nation free from ideas of tyranny and oppression. Their language, while precise and written for beauty of its simplicity, can be considered almost crude at best. Reading the Bill of Rights, we are engaged by the simple rights extended to all Americans, free from government tyranny. However, we stand repulsed by the loose definition given by the Amendments. It’s language, remains in principle but lacks original intent.
The Declaration of Independence, as eloquently written by Jefferson, gives reasons as to why a people are to revolt against their government. It states that Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are unalienable rights, endowed from our Creator. And subsequently that it is man’s job to secure such rights. And that if those rights are hampered by tyranny, it is not only man’s right to end such abuse, but their very responsibility, so that they may secure the blessings given by our Creator.
As plain as it may seem, the language given provides a concept that glances past many Americans today. Self-reliance, a word not thrown around often, was the foundation of this country. It took a people, who very invariably challenged, to take a stand for what they thought was right, and to take a stand for what they wanted. These words have fallen on deaf ears not just in Washington, but also in the nation.
Self-reliance is not a commonly used term. It’s practices and principles are dying out with an age that understood that stability was something you created and not relied upon another to create. This government, the American government, is a great government. It has provided the safeguard in securing the blessings of liberty. However, this country has not realized its full potential. Our Founding Fathers’ understood it as self-reliance.
This principle is quite simple. It’s euphemisms, often shared by the Greatest Generation, precluded to simple sayings of “waste not, want not” or “a fool and his money are soon parted”. These people believed in self-reliance, as they carried a nation far beyond its roots of liberty, to share a simple, yet powerful message of democracy, capitalism, and good government. This message should be honored.
Self-reliance should be the execution of democracy, the exercising of liberties. Our reliance upon one another, upon ourselves, should be expressed in the most uplifting way. Do not just depend upon government, but depend upon yourself. It will be, through our means, that we see ourselves through many crisis, as been past and present. Our Founding Fathers’ did so in creating something greater beyond their selves; this was something they understood.
And we, while not taking on the task of creating a country, will in turn create a better nation, guided by the principles that have overseen a country; a people, through the tumults our past and present, and with aid from our positive insight, our future.