This year’s Fourth of July was another great national celebration of our Declaration of Independence and the birth of our nation. My family came together as did many others, to enjoy BBQ and to give thanks to God for the many blessings bestowed upon our nation. Even my 90 year young mom came over to enjoy a hot dog and potato salad!
It is also a time for reflection on the personal risks our forefathers were willing to take in order to establish a more perfect form of government based on the idea that every man was free and possessed certain God given unalienable rights, as so eloquently stated by Thomas Jefferson. I realize we are an exceptional people to have created, maintained and protected so steadfastly our nation for so many years.
We have been entrusted with a great legacy, a free society as such the world has never known. With all great legacies come tremendous responsibilities to protect and cherish that which is ours for now and soon to be passed on to our children for safekeeping. Every generation of Americans beginning with those who first immigrated to this continent have made a sacrifice of blood and treasure and have added to the legacy that is America.
My father’s generation experienced and survived a worldwide depression, won a world war, rebuilt a devastated Europe and Japan, and gave their children a tremendous head start in life; thus, making the world safe for democracy. For that, I am thankful.
My generation is no different. We inherited a cold war and saw it to its conclusion. We created more wealth than had been created by all past generations combined. We rectified many of the inequities that existed in our country, making all Americans equal. We fought a bloody war in Vietnam that divided our country and made our military veterans, at the time; feel unappreciated and less than honorable upon their return. We owed our Vietnam Vets much more for their sacrifices, and we made sure that veterans who followed them received the support, honor and appreciation that they deserved.
Now we have another generation about to receive their inheritance, but our job is not yet done. The legacy we are about to pass on, is not yet secure. To paraphrase the words of Benjamin Franklin, we have a Republic if we can hang on to it.
The principles that guided them in establishing our Republic were those written about by seventeenth and eighteenth century liberal thinkers such as John Locke, Adam Smith, as well as Thomas Paine. Those principles which have served us so well these many years; are being challenged and disavowed by a progressive left wing in our country that believe in an ultimate altruistic government to rule man.
Progressives and our political elites believe they need not follow the laws of nature so eloquently written about by John Locke who stated, “Thus the law of nature stands as an eternal rule of all men, legislators as well as others.” They would remake nature to be fair to all and in the image of man. They would have you believe that the founding fathers are out of step with the modern world. The system of government they created based on their Anglo-Saxon heritage and the laws of nature is inadequate. Progressives and elites would have you believe we need a bigger and much more robust government to adjudicate fairness and equal outcomes for all. They believe American Exceptionalism is passé. There is a new world order and we are no more important to its future than are 192 other countries.
As nature will attest, nations are not people and all are not created equal. How short on common sense and out of touch with the natural order of the world can they be?
My generation needs to return our country to the guiding principles of our founders. Government is beholden to man and not the other way around. We are an exceptional nation and we must defend that legacy. Until we have rebalanced our government with the laws of nature, my generation’s job is not finished.
God bless