How far must the Obama administration go before U.S. citizens simply demand it to stop? Week after week, the present administration either proposes or does some new and radical thing. Its foolish spending is crippling our country’s future, and its tax proposals are crushing the entrepreneurial spirit of many American businessmen and women. It has nationalized banks, insurance and car companies, and is presently obsessed with nationalizing health care. The latter is being attempted through back room bribery deals and procedural gymnastics.
While all of this is going on, the Obama administration is seeking to commandeer another 13 million acres of land (on top of the 9 million they confiscated last year). It has also been leaked that the administration is considering banning sport fishing in a variety of U.S. waters. The current administration is on a power-grabbing binge. Many of our Constitutionally guaranteed liberties are in jeopardy of being lost. Some people see this and are disturbed. However, too many others appear unconcerned. What will it take to awaken them?
Contrasting the circumstances of some colonists with the people living in Boston, Thomas Paine wrote,
“It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of sorrow; the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which all American property is possessed.”
Perhaps this is the way some people think of Washington. They feel that they are sufficiently distant from the “scene of sorrow” so as to be protected from the consequences of the often foolish and freedom-stripping decisions of politicians. They trust that they will be able to continue their lives as they were, with government decisions and actions having no adverse impact upon them. If this is what they think, they are wrong. Their sense of security is a fantasy. In reality, most all federal legislation has some impact on our lives, directly or indirectly, either good or bad.
To turn things around, people must look beyond themselves. Scripture says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Not all people enjoy sport fishing, but those who don’t enjoy it should not despise or prohibit those who do. Not all people want to buy health insurance, but they should not expect their neighbors to buy it for them. People apply themselves to their jobs and endeavors to varying degrees. Those who achieve a higher than average degree of wealth as a result of their working harder, smarter or longer than others, should not be despised by those who do less, or who simply choose a different station of life and livelihood.
Correcting the wrong course of a nation requires education. Sadly, a nation on a corrupt course is ill-equipped to properly educate its people, so they must educate themselves. Once educated, they must influence others by speaking out for what is right, and speaking against what is wrong. Most importantly, those in a representative democracy must make every effort to elect people of honor to elective offices.
