American Revolution

What a marvelous blessing the American Revolution was!  Our forefathers accomplished great things for us and set up a Declaration and Constitution to preserve these wonderful freedoms to us.

But the American Revolution is not over.  1776 was only the beginning.  The shot that was heard around the world only began an ongoing revolution.  The American Revolution was not over when the British surrendered.  The revolution had only begun.  Indeed, it has often been called the American Experiment.  And that is what it is and we are still experimenting with a constitutional government today.  Some, including many of our government officials, want the experiment to stop.  But if the experiment stops, then we will lose our freedoms, our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  This experiment/revolution is an ongoing struggle.  Hopefully it will go on in every generation and every election.

And it is sacrificial.  If this experiment is to continue, every generation must be willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary to keep it going.  After all, our forefathers had nothing to gain financially or personally by what they did.  They did it because they believed that it was the right thing to do.  Without these rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, life was not worth living.

Also, this revolution is not ruled/maintained by the officials.  It is ruled/maintained by the people, the citizens of the country.  This experiment cannot be done by EXPERTS, officials who claim to know better than anyone else how this works.

But won't the citizens, the people of the land, make mistakes?  YES, they will.  That is why the struggle, the work of this revolution MUST continue.  Do not think, once we have gotten new legislation, we are done.  It will never be done.

 That is why the debate must continue, why freedom of expression MUST continue.  This is the only way freedom can be maintained.

It is human nature to think "I know what's best for the people, the country, the masses."  This nature is found in ALL organizations, even churches.  Freedom of debate needs to continue to let the spirit of freedom do its work.

Doesn't this leave us open to abuse by "experts"?  YES!  That is why the freedom of expression must continue.  The only way to correct an abuse by "experts"/officials is to allow the freedom of expression and debate.

Won't the people go astray?  YES, they will.  So freedom of expression must continue.  We CANNOT depend on "experts", because "experts" also make mistakes and lead us astray.  Indeed, the "experts" probably make more mistakes than the people because their confidence in their "wisdom" blinds them to the destruction their "expertise".  "Experts" do not have all the answers.  Depending on "experts", self-acknowledged/self-proclaimed as such, leads to tyranny/dictatorship.

So we need CITIZEN legislators, LAY (non-professional) legislators, CITIZEN executives, CITIZEN judiciary --- NOT SELF-PROCLAIMED "EXPERTS".

So the reason we have gotten to this point of over-sized, over-whelming government is because the CITIZENS have become self-satisfied, lackadaisical, with the attitude of letting our leaders, "EXPERTS", take care of the work of governing.  We have families, businesses, homes, communities to take care of.  "Let our elected officials ("experts") do the governing."

Ah, but, taking care of families, businesses, homes, communities means WE, the citizens, but be also involved in governing.  So, the citizens MUST be involved.  We CANNOT leave it to the elected, the "expert", the official.  We must be involved by our words and by our actions/elections.

Well, don't we trust our leaders, our "experts"?  Well, ask yourself: how has that worked out for us?  Oh, we do trust our "experts" as much as we trust ourselves.  But you see, trust does NOT exclude work/involvement.  In fact, even when we find someone we trust, we must be involved, supporting that person and helping him/her protect our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  If we expect someone to serve us that means we must also serve him/her.

And service means just that --- SERVICE.  Our elected "experts" were elected to serve, not lord it over the citizens.  They were elected NOT because they were "experts"/"know-it-alls" but because they want to serve the citizens.  And so we ALL should be involved in serving in whatever way we can.  "Do not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." (JFK)  We do not elect them because they know what is best, but because we believe they will serve us.  So we have citizen elected officials, citizen legislators, citizen judges, citizen soldiers.

Doesn't that make us weak?  Well, does trusting "experts? make us strong?  Look at Egypt, Libya, USSR, Nazi Germany.  The list could go on forever.  They all had their supply of "expert" officials.  So in the end we cannot trust "experts".  We can only trust each other and ourselves to the extent that we are willing to work together, willing to allow each other to express what we see and how we believe it needs to be done.  And the government cannot do that for us.  It can only defend our right to freely express what we believe needs to be done.  And we express that through free speech and through the ballot box.