What Would They Think Of America Today?

The fourth of July commemorates one of the most stunning achievements in human history, when a people declared themselves free and independent from the world's mightiest empire on the basis of God-given rights that no earthly power may revoke. As announced in the Declaration of Independence, "to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. . . ."

The brave members of the founding generation grabbed their muskets because they knew it is better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees, and any red-blooded American is proud of the sacrifices they made and what they ultimately accomplished.

I wonder, though, how the founding generation would feel about the country that now exists? A country where federal, state, and local governments consume almost 50% of a productive citizen's income through taxation, and even more through the cost of complying with Byzantine rules and regulations? Where bureaucracies have the power to enact those rules and regulations without any legislative process? Where government employees enjoy a lavish lifestyle at public expense rather than engage in anything resembling public service? Where government re-distributes wealth among private citizens based on political favors and ideological fads? Where we have large standing armies that patrol American spaces as well as the rest of the world? Where government regularly spies on citizens? Where federal courts dictate how states and localities may govern themselves by granting a veto to every misfit and malcontent? Where we have a "living Constitution" that can be amended by cabals of elitists rather than by the people through the amendment process? Where schoolchildren may learn about witchcraft or wear a swasitka, but may not learn about the Bible or wear a cross? Where a man's family and life may be destroyed on a whim with government assistance? Where citizens are forced to subsidize foreigners who come here uninvited? Where the federal government refuses to enforce the national border and actively prevents states from doing so, even though it proclaims we are in the midst of a desperate "war on terror"? Where women have a unilateral "right" to preserve or end human life for their own convenience, yet also have the power to compel others to bear responsibility for her choice? Where government controls the education of children? Where such "education" often consists of maligning the nation's founders? Where states are forced not only to refrain from discouraging deviant behavior, but are compelled to endorse it? And where any criticism of this putrid state of affairs is considered "extremist" or treasonous?

I could go on, but it's making me ill. My guess is that the founding generation would feel much the same way, so much so that they might very well have opted to enjoy their own lives rather than lay them down for the sake of ours.

Yes, I still celebrate the fourth of July. Not for the country that is, but for the country that was and, God willing, could be again.