I’m home from Brooklyn, you could say “No Sleep ’till We Leave Brooklyn.” The trip was great but tiring. Home feels so good.
I woke up in my own bed this morning and was struck by how nice it was to do just that. To be home in my space, with room and with comfort and with peace. It would certainly be easy for those who disagree with me to find data, Europeans rank their happiness higher than we do, but I find the creature comforts America has to offer to be a significant satisfier.
In other words, it is better to be poor in America than it is to be at the median in other countries.
However, I am struck that this time of ours, this pleasant state may be peaking. That the essence of what makes America America is fading. It’s clear that we’re moving towards a more socialist-democracy favored by Western Europe. A nation that feels it’s more important reign in individual liberty so that others may receive care and access to goods and services.
It’s hard to go back to my college self and reflect on how I felt about the issues of the day. I certainly didn’t think about them through the lens of liberty and of limited government. Rather, I simply went with my then gut. I was certainly pleased when the minimum wage went up, but I also understood that as I raised the rate on my lawn mowing business I mowed less lawns. I’ve always opposed taxation but understand that things like roads and cops and schools need to be payed for. I had some very special teachers; people that shaped my life. But I had some horrible horrible teachers that I knew had no business teaching.
Anyway, the me of today enjoys the rush of emotion I still get when I consider the incredible courage required to create the America of then. And the me of today feels more and more like Dr. Chambless:
Somewhere on a country highway today I learned of the gutless assistance John Roberts gave the liberals on the Supreme Court in ruling that the federal government has the Constitutional right to tax all of us if we refuse to purchase something the government demands that we purchase. Roberts said that the government cannot require us to buy health insurance but can “tax” us if we do not.
This means that if the government decides some day that a certain type of car is best in fighting global warming or that a certain type of school is best for our kids or that a certain type of food is best for our health that we will not have to buy the small car, go to the local school or buy carrots but can be taxed on these decisions to not partake of these goods.
Folks, I am sorry, but it is over for this country.
…
I believe Thomas Jefferson would say, “But of course” upon reading today’s Supreme Court decision.
The fact is, as we approach the 236th birthday of this dying experiment that it is somewhat of a miracle that a republic could have lasted this long. The “makers” in our nation are now so outnumbered by the “takers” that we will most likely not be able to get back the liberty we have now lost.
Historians will record, with bewilderment, that the people who were given the gift of liberty on this Earth turned over their gift to the same forces that always destroy liberty to begin with.
And then this on his thoughts on July 4th:
Today was about celebrating the original gift, the concept, the idea of The United States of America. It was about being joyful that we have had all of these years of relative liberty when compared to the rest of the world – and still have when looking around the globe today.It really does not matter what the future holds for America at this point.
Every Founding Father who signed the letter to King George on that muggy day in Philadelphia must have known – or should have known – that the moment the ink from their courageous signatures dried it would herald the beginning of the end of their selfless sacrifice for posterity.
No nation that allows covetous men and women to vote can maintain a system of liberty and property rights. Eventually, those who covet what others have – when allowed to vote – will engage in the abrogation of the rights of their fellowman. It is inevitable, it is with us now and it will herald, as Ben Franklin said, “….the end of the republic.”
Those of us who still reside in America must realize that we live in a post-Constitution United States. When those among us who care about liberty come to grips with the aforementioned reality we can refocus our energies on delaying the inevitable end of this grand and glorious experiment with human liberty and limited government.
I agree. It is my hope to delay this as long as we can so that one day my kids too can wake up and enjoy the fruits of America.
