The American Dream: Don't Let It Go

While the founding fathers worked hard to create a Constitution that would "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," they knew that parchment barriers, alone, would not stand the test of time. 

They viewed the world as an eternal battleground, a never-ending contest that pits liberty against power. In every age, the amassing of power by the government has presaged the demise of liberty. The price a people must be willing to pay to preserve their liberties is eternal vigilance. 

For the founders, that meant a commitment to civic virtue. The people must remain engaged in the political affairs of their country, while studiously attending to their own private affairs. Notable leaders like Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, thus warned:  

Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interests.

The Revolutionary-era sage, Noah Webster expressed the idea with even greater clarity and urgency:

. . . if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded.

Why was it necessary for such public-spirited men to issue such cautions? At one time, Americans studied the lessons of history. They understood that what would happen already has. But that was then. Today, all caution is thrown to the wind as organized special interests lobby Congress for every imaginable species of special privilege. Runaway public spending threatens to drive the nation into yet another, boom-and-bust ditch.   

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Why can't more Americans see the writing on the wall?  

Mostly, it's because they aren't looking. While some Americans appreciate the danger big government poses and others don't think the government is doing enough to satisfy the people's pressing needs, most Americans don't care one way or the other. They are the silent majority, the apathetic. They aren't aware that:  

(1) Washington has amassed a federal debt in excess of $34.5 trillion and is expecting annual deficits to total over $1.5 trillion into the foreseeable future. Already annual interest charges on the national debt exceed the total National Defense budget by nearly $200 billion.  

(2) Should the U.S. Treasury have to offer higher interest payouts to entice lenders to continue financing the runaway levels of public spending, then mortgage, auto, credit card, and all other interest rates will rise, in turn.  That spells doom for stock prices and the investment portfolios that allow people to feel prosperous, on paper. 

(3) Big city office towers are around 50% unoccupied. Regional banks are on the hook for the mortgages that may soon be deemed non-performing. 

(4) Migrant populations need to be housed, clothed, fed, educated, medically cared for, and policed. The ensuing expenditures may drive a succession of big cities to the brink of bankruptcy. One day they may find no one willing to purchase their municipal bonds.  

(3) Consumer credit card debt is greater than ever for families who've had to use their cards to purchase daily necessities in a climate of climbing inflation. Credit card defaults are already approaching record levels.

As it is, any family that is paying upwards of 50% in combined federal/state/local income taxes, payroll, property, sales, utility, and capital gains taxes is already half-slave/half-free. 

Too few Americans understand that what they earn, they own. It belongs to them, not to society at large so that Congress can take away and give away as much as it pleases for any cause it deems "worthy." And the threat is not just economic. It cuts to the heart of our Constitutional liberties. 

(1) A president who can forgive $ billions in student loan debt without Congressional authorization is a president who has decided to rule by arbitrary fiat. Gone are all Constitutional checks and balances and the due separation of powers that, alone, breathes legitimacy into political conduct and keeps a people safe from tyranny. The Constitution gives the legislature exclusive power to appropriate funds.   

(2) A government that can suppress dissenting opinions (even of medical professionals), as mere "disinformation" or "misinformation" is a government that is willing to dispense with the people's First Amendment guarantee of free speech.  

(3) The concerted effort to allow global bodies, such as the World Economic Forum and World Health Organization, to issue directives that would control the daily conduct of Americans also poses a grave danger to our democracy. That is not what a government of the people, by the people, and for the people looks like. Congress is not authorized to transfer this nation's political sovereignty to any foreign body. 

There is still time to turn things around, but not too much. 

Americans need to ask: What must government do for the people and what must the people be allowed and expected to do for themselves - and one another? And one thing is for sure: The majority can no longer afford to remain silent.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.