Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 1/16/22
“When,
in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected them with another …”
So
began the declaring, not the document just yet, but the verbal agreeing among
our founders. That declaring led 13 separate geographical groups of British
subjects to separate from powerful Britain and begin their
political/governmental life anew with each other.
One
marvels at their courage. Knowing of the power of the British army (had the
Redcoats not been a presence on the streets of New England’s cities?), the
founders dared to believe that ragtag farmers, small merchants, and they
themselves could amass an army and defeat the strongest power of the western
world.
Not
all colonists desired separation. Not all of the delegates to our
constitutional convention agreed at first on our constitution. That lion of
liberty Patrick Henry said he “smelt a rat” and insisted it be amended. Thank
him and Madison for the Bill of Rights which is always one Congressional
election away from possible dissolution.
Only
one idea led to the written Declaration and its fulfilling document, the
Constitution. That idea was the belief that people could govern themselves and
did not need kings, queens, viceroys, and potentates to direct their lives,
presumably including their personal healthcare. Indeed it was kings and such that
for centuries had prevented freedom.
But
separation, division, and re-direction were all necessary for the start-up of
political freedom. The same is true today. Sometimes division is not only good
but necessary. Today in American politics separations are occurring that at one
time in our national life would have been un-thinkable. Re-alignments are
occurring.
How
could they not? For the last 13 months our federal government has been behaving
like the rulers of old. Just this past week my younger brother informed me that
the insurance company he works for had to issue an ultimatum for employees to
get vaccinated or be tested weekly and wear a double mask at all times. He was
required to give his vaccination card to the HR department to show to OSHA. His
company will be fined $10,000 for each employee that is not in compliance.
“Never thought government would be doing this to businesses,” he opined.
OSHA:
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A “bureau.” Government must keep
us safe, healthy, and vaccinated, you see. The mischievous Franklin and the
solemn Washington would chuckle and then fight the very notion. Talk about
unelected bureaucratic power! Consequently, the discord and division throughout
the nation today.
Division
Exhibit A: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce – not necessarily your local chamber –
deserted the Republican Party in the 2020 election. The national chamber gave
higher scores to Democrats on their voting record. Today’s corporate world,
instead of attending to business, is pontificating on race, homosexual rights,
and “equity.” House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy recently stated, “Big Business is
not welcome back if and when Republicans get back in power.” That, dear reader,
is a political divide worth noting. Oh, how far the corporate world has drifted
from that true Republican Calvin Coolidge who asserted, “The business of
America is business.”
Exhibit
B: Traditionally, Republicans have been viewed as the friends of business and
Democrats the friend of the common man. Today the common people/ordinary
citizens, particularly manual laborers, still support a Republican billionaire.
The Democrat Party is no longer the refuge of ordinary citizens but primarily
of the intelligentsia, academia, college students, professional leftists, and
socialists, a momentous turn-around.
If
politics is downstream from culture, then politics will be noble only when the
culture is noble. We look at the smashing and trashing of our cities, at
coarsening language, and at governmental overreach and blame it on bad politics.
But youthful smashing and trashing springs from fatherlessness; coarse language
springs from weakened homes; and governmental overreach springs from a belief
system that simply loves governmental largesse.
The
slog which the nation now finds itself in is deeper than politics. It is a mental/spiritual/philosophical
state brought on by the abandonment of that great idea of the founders, that
is, individual liberty, not bureaucratic rule or executive mandates. We have
allowed a virus – more precisely its managers – to ease us further into loss of
freedom. We’ve also ceased “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the
rectitude of our intentions,” as the closing words of the Declaration state.
More
division and re-alignment are likely. The ’22 and ‘24 elections will reveal
whether we prefer the great idea set forth in New England barely two and a half
centuries ago or subservience to Big Brother.
Roger Hines
1/11/22
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