On November 19th, 1863 in his dedication speech at the cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln concluded with these words, “… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The question we seem confronted with today is do we, as a nation, still believe we are a government for the people?
We came into being as a rebellion against the aloof government of Great Britain where we had no direct say in the laws we were expected to obey, and a King who had little interest in the colonies except as a way to reduce his debts from wars with France, both here in the colonies and in Europe.
Does our government continue to provide the natural freedoms we articulated when we declared our independence from the motherland? Do we have life, liberty, and the chance for happiness? It seems the answer clearly depends on what you believe are your self-interests, as well as your belief in the rhetoric of the political parties who seek the power to govern and the wealth that comes from such power.
As we separated ourselves from Great Britain it seemed most people accepted the idea of a weak central government and stronger rights of the several colonies. When that proved unworkable, we wrote a constitution that outlined the limits of a stronger central government. Over the years we have changed in our expectations of equality and the Constitution has changed as well. With each President, the power of the Executive has grown and the checks of that power by the Congress and the Court have been rather an exception than a routine.
The expectations of the citizens have changed as well. We now ask more and more of the Government, yet seem to have less and less appreciation of what those demands entail. The politicians we elect are more than happy to play to those demands to maintain their positions of privilege. In bending every which way to meet the demands of the loudest voices do people who run our governments (local, state, and federal) remain “for the people?”
As I watch the “hands-off” approach of the Democratic party to the civil unrest, the decay of the cities, and the rhetoric of the senior leadership of the DNC about those who support the President as “domestic terrorists,” it seems obvious what people the party seeks to represent.
Then again, if we choose to talk about civility, we have the President who seems to relish the whirlwinds and dust devils he kicks up daily as he uses the office to bring attention to himself. The question I face is what is the personal cost as I have to choose between the lesser of two evils?
1 comment:
I like your observations of the Genesis of our government and how perceptions have changed, yet remained the same over two centuries. I can't help but wonder if elimination of "Civics" in public schools for more than three decades has had a negative effect on how people perceive and participate in government.
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