By Robert Rohlfing ——Bio and Archives--March 7, 2011
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" it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." Just as then, we today indulge in the illusions of hope. For so many of us it is much easier to keep our eyes shut to the painful truths and the harsh realities that face us. While we may not be calling for armed rebellion against our government, our freedoms and liberties are as much at stake today as they were then. Have we become so led astray that we are no longer able to know that the worst could very well happen to our nation? If we continue down our current path of fiscal irresponsibility we could very well slide into the slavery that our fore fathers fought against. No we will not be slaves to another nation, but we will still be slaves! The personal greed of not facing up to the truth, that we here today have to become the wise men and women, who engage in the great and arduous struggle to ensure generations behind us have the same opportunities of freedom and individual liberty of generations who came before us. On that day in March of 1775 many citizens of the colonies were still loyal to the status quo of big government ruling over their lives. They continued to hear not and see not the fact that no matter how many times they grieved to the British government that their grievances fell on deaf ears. Today we have a split in our population that is perfectly happy with the status quo of big government and actually look to it for their salvation in life. These people are not our enemies as the Tories who remained loyal to the crown became, but these people today are embarking upon a path that could very well split this country in half. Over the last few years many citizens of this great nation have been willing to acknowledge the painful truth that we can no longer sustain the status quo or the dependency it has created. At the same time these folks found their voices and began to petition the government about the grievances of over taxation and out of control spending. This same government once again followed along the same path that the British government did so long ago with an insidious smile and a campaign of lies and smears to gin up discontent between the two opposing camps.A house divided is a house that eventually falls. This is a lesson that we need to take to heart, as we have those that are using class war to divide us right down the middle. The forces behind this division are not looking to preserve the Republic that was established by the founding fathers, but to instead transform us into a society that favors the few while enslaving the mass to feed the indulgences of those who are not willing to take a stand and do the harder sacrifice. In the 1770's we had those that were willing to make great sacrifices so that the generations that were to come could live in a society where they were not beholden to big government and those allied with it. Patrick Henry said,
"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House."What is our lamp today? Is it the reality that looking at past experience we do not see our government willing to address the out of control spending and the call of the people to reign it in? Can we judge the future by looking at the past that no one is willing to take a stand once and for all and say that we cannot continue along this course? The patriots that took a stand long ago understood that once you became dependent on the government to set the course without listening to the people that the people would become nothing less than slaves to the government. The sacrifice of doing the hard thing is not a once in a life time occurrence. When we look back in the history of this nation we can point out many generations that sacrificed so that others could benefit in the long run. Those that fought in the Civil War fought for both the freedom of the destitute and for the preservation of the Republic. For many they fought for the original intent of our form of the Republic and that was that States had more power in dealing with the day to day lives of the citizens and not the Federal Government. From that point forward it was turned upside down and the Federal Government imposed more and more control over the citizenry and we started down the path that we currently are on. To that end we should still recognize that this generation was willing to take a stand and face the harsh reality that complacency and status quo do not always result in favorable outcomes.
"I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies."Enemies are not always those of a foreign power and they are not always attacks in the physical sense. The enemy today is the enormous debt and the programs that feed that debt. If we fail to become a generation willing to step up to the plate, the freedoms and equality of generations to come are in peril. Will we transform back to what Patrick Henry, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and all those that were willing to put their lives and livelihood on the line? That is an insult to all those who came before and were willing to sacrifice for generations to follow. What will the history books say about this generation? Will they say that we were a generation willing to face down the harsh realities and preserve the Republic or will they say that we were content allowing the Republic to fall and transform into a society where we allowed our children to be enslaved due to our own personal greed? Death or Liberty was Patrick Henry's rallying cry that day in March of 1775, today that same cry applies with the death of liberty and the Republic if we do not face the harsh realities that the status quo has to be tackled once and for all.
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Robert Rohlfing writes about Liberty and the Preservation of Freedoms.