There are a lot of reasons the folks who attended Glenn Beck’s 8/28 rally attended. Many are fans of Glenn Beck’s radio and television programs. Many are active in the tea party movement. But I think most, and an immense number who were not there, are like the Whos in Dr. Seuss’ book, “Horton Hears a Who.”
Our country has never been monolithic. America has seen immense change in its brief history and that change occurred at a breakneck pace. When George Washington died in 1799 the fastest way to travel was horseback. Neither information nor material objects could move from point A to point B any faster than about 15 miles an hour, the same limit that existed when Alexander the Great died, the same limit that existed when Julius Caesar died and the same limit that existed when Moses died. George Washington’s world was not very different from Julius Caesar’s. Gunpowder had changed warfare a bit, and printing presses made copying information much, much easier…
But aside from those two things not much was different. A man born in the U.S. in 1799 could have lived to see steam locomotives capable of carrying tens of tons of people, goods and information at speeds up to 100mph and a rail system that spanned the nation. A man born in 1799 could have lived to see telegraph wires that could convey news from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, PA in fractions of a second. A woman born when that man died could have lived to see airplanes that could transport people and goods around the world in less than a day. She lived to see automobiles manufactured by the thousands each day. Automobiles so inexpensive most all Americans could afford one and roads so good almost anyone could drive one. Transatlantic cables that allowed the President of the U.S. to speak to the Prime Minister of the UK in real time. That woman would turn on a television and watch U.S. soldiers fighting in Asian jungles, live, as it happened. That woman would pick up a phone in her home and in seconds be connected by voice with any human she knew, anywhere on the globe.
Such tremendous change is almost unfathomable in such a brief period of time. Consequently most Americans haven’t spent a lot of time focused on their government. Most Americans have an appreciation for their country and many, many Americans have studied the Constitution, the Founding fathers and the Revolutionary war. Many Americans have a deep-rooted appreciation for the system of checks and balances our nation is built on; the balance of power between the federal government and the states, and, most importantly, the freedoms and liberties guaranteed by our founding documents. Many Americans have even sworn an oath to uphold the principles set forth in those documents. And, most Americans are nice people. Live and let live types. We’ve been busy building cotton gins and Model Ts and semi-automatic rifles and computers and space shuttles and fizzy soda drinks and hamburgers and amusement parks and movies and rollerblades and video games and q-tips and tiny radio communication devices we can fit in our pockets and purses. And we’ve freed Europe from tyrants (twice in less than half a century!), freed parts of Asia and the Middle East. We’ve been busy. Very, very busy.
The balance of power has tipped more towards a strong, centralized, federal government than most Americans want. It’s been a long, slow slide but the aggravation is nothing new. Each new federal bureaucracy has come with reduced liberty and a de-emphasis on local and personal governance. But none of the individual steps has been so severe it warranted revolt. I loathe the fact that when I form an agreement with another private party to perform work at a set fee the federal government takes a portion of my wages before I even see them. The U.S. government literally takes a portion of my labor. But is the 16th amendment worth storming the Bastille over? How about the EPA? The Department of Education? Socialized medicine? Borrowing money from future generations to dole out to present day retirees? If one Congress enacted all these things in one weekend there would be revolt, but it’s been gradual. Social security has existed my entire life. Federal income tax has existed my entire life. The EPA and Department of Education were enacted before I was old enough to vote.
Our nation has been like that dust speck that Horton noticed while bathing in the jungle of Nool. We’ve all been so busy we’ve hardly had time to notice our government’s abysmal job keeping us aloft. It’s five minutes to midnight and we’re headed for the pool and those of us paying attention know this, but what can we do? We’re good people. We’re not selfish people. I’m all for social security to help widows, orphans and the disabled, but taking money from my pay to give to wealthy retired folks? I’m against it. I’m against the federal government telling my local schools how to educate. And on, and on, and on. But what to do?
Maybe Glenn Beck is the mayor of Whoville. If we just shout, all of us at the same time, they might hear us. Surely if they knew we are here, understood we are here, they would right our course and we wouldn’t have to fall into the water. Many of us, many, many of us understand what our founders understood; a nation with an overly powerful central government cannot last and, despite its longevity, men and women will cease to be free. Some of our leaders, too many of them, do not understand and are steering us into the drink. We don’t want to see our dust speck perish from this Earth. We are willing to fight for our freedom, but we don’t want to fight our neighbors. And it doesn’t have to be. The difficult work has already been done. We’ve got the Constitution. We’ve won our freedom from tyranny. Amazing people have taken the difficult steps, done the hard work and bequeathed this to us. All we have to do is follow the map and not steer towards the pool. But the men and women at the helm won’t read the map. Like all of us, they’re busy too. How do we get them to notice?
“we are here, We are Here, WE ARE HERE…”
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This goes back to my tipping point argument. How many times do you tell the government something, vote people in or out, write letters to your Congressman, stand around with signs, on and on before you say okay this isn’t working? No one wants to fight but I do believe all Americans have an obligation to fight for their nation if need be. We have these elections coming up and the elections in 2012 and so far as I’m concerned they are the last gasp of peaceful resistance and objection. If the downward slide continues after these two elections I think Americans need to start asking some tough questions of themselves and we, like our forefathers, will need to take action.
Good question, “How do we get them to notice?” And another one is, “Once we get them to notice, how do we get them to listen?” I think that is why the health care bill woke the public up. A majority of the public was against it, people phoned, e-mailed, went to the capital (yourself included, if I remember correctly) and yet, our elected officials were telling us we didn’t understand, they knew better, etc. THEY DID NOT LISTEN and that is why many people have become engaged, and a lot of them for the first time. The ultimate question is whether it will bear fruit in coming elections and if so, will the newly elected listen to the public or become ensnared by the usual groupthink? Only time will tell. To outsiders, it will be very intriguing story to watch play out over the coming years. To us, we will watch (and vote) with hope and trepidation since so much is at stake.
Veruckt/Tink,
I agree. I do think it is different this time. I don’t expect a lot out of the media, but their inability to grasp this is beyond stunning. And the President, his staff and advisors and a majority of Congress also fail to understand what is happening.
These people aren’t protesting. It’s not like the hippies at the Democratic convention, or marches in Selma.
These folks are polite (it’s our nature), but they are very astute. They understand their rights and they understand the relationship in the U.S. between the government and the governed. It’s they (President and Congress) who work for us, and not the other way around. Our Constitution limits Congress’ control, not our freedom (http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec8). We are not asking. We are not threatening.
It’s so odd to see pundits discussing this, as if it’s a political movement, or a theory to be debated. We are the people of the United States informing the Federal government that it is attempting to exercise authority it does not have.
Let’s say your neighbor parks his car in your carport. You may be polite about it. You may simply meet him as he’s exiting the car and say, “Hi, looks like your car is in my carport.” But if he continues to do it you won’t forget. Nor will you go away. It’s your property and he cannot use it without your permission. It is yours.
It’s not like we are going to forget that they don’t have the right to make us purchase something. This isn’t a political point that can be debated on news programs until we go away. It’s been going on far too long and they’ve crossed a line.
“We are here.”
“I’m all for social security to help widows, orphans and the disabled, but taking money from my pay to give to wealthy retired folks? I’m against it.”
I think it is this thinking that started us down the slippery slope to where we are now. Why should we expect the government, through use of force, to take care of them? As altruistic as taking care of the aforementioned group of people is, to have the government do it by force is not what I consider charitable. Governments only exist for power. Sure, they will take care of the widows, orphans and the disabled, but it is not in it’s nature to stop there. Once government has taken our self sufficiency, it has the upper hand.
We call the ruling class of today “politicians”, but we have known them by their other names from the past: kings, queens, aristocrats, pharaohs, commissars, what did they call them in ancient China? Japan? What did the Aztec call their ruling class?
We have the Constitution, because men/women who knew that kings,queens, pharaohs, whatever, were not divine, also knew they did not want to live as subordinates. As you stated, Rufus, our Constitution was designed to restrict the government rule not our freedoms, this was because our Founding Fathers knew that there would always be those whose nature was to rule over people. So, how could the ruling class, once again, find their way to the seat of power? Maybe because it is their nature.
From an article by Angelo M. Codevilla, “America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution”:
“…explicit in our ruling class’s actions is the dismissal, as the
ways of outdated “fathers,” of the answers that most Americans
would give to these questions. This dismissal of the American
people’s intellectual, spiritual, and moral substance is the very
heart of what our ruling class is about. Its principal article of
faith, its claim to the right to decide for others, is precisely
that it knows things and operates by standards beyond others’
comprehension.
While the unenlightened ones believe that man is created in the
image and likeness of God and that we are subject to His and to
His nature’s laws, the enlightened ones know that we are
products of evolution, driven by chance, the environment, and the
will to primacy. While the un-enlightened are stuck with the
antiquated notion that ordinary human minds can reach objective
judgments about good and evil, better and worse through reason,
the enlightened ones know that all such judgments are
subjective and that ordinary people can no more be trusted
with reason than they can with guns. Because ordinary people
will pervert reason with ideology, religion, or interest, science
is “science” only in the “right” hands. Consensus among the right
people is the only standard of truth. Facts and logic matter only
insofar as proper authority acknowledges them.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same. What is happening now is no different than what has always happened…but if I understand the premise of your post, the question is, what to do to make the ruling class know we are here? Believe me, the ruling class knows that we are here and that is what drives them.
I will get off my soap box now….
“Government is not reason and it is not eloquence. It is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” – George Washington
Don’t you dare! Stay on that soapbox, Penelope, you’re doing great and our team needs you!
You are correct about the widows and orphans part of Social Security. It is a slippery slope. At the very least it should be done at a state level, or, a private, voluntary fund workers can contribute to, kind of like the United Way.
You are encouraging, Rufus.
My pop and I had a conversation about your post as we drove up to Tortilla Flats, we kept coming back to the thought that since the ruling class can no longer use “divine right” to convince the masses that they are the only ones to deserve this mantle, we think the new strategy has been to confiscate charity. Somehow they have set the standard of altruism as social security, welfare, unemployment benefits, public schools, medicare, et al government programs, designed to “help the disadvantaged”. This precedent has weakened the legitimate definition of charity. Our politicians “go wobbly” because they do not have the fortitude to challenge the premise that these programs are not charitable because of their very nature in that a)it is not their own personal money and b) it has been taken by force. Once you start re-defining how charity is understood in society, the generation who justifies the use of this re-defines the meaning of selflessness, and self-sacrifice is what other people do for them.
As always, thank you for allowing me to express my thoughts on these subjects. “To lead an untrained people to war is to throw them away.” – Confucius
People expect it because that’s what they’ve been told since they were kids. We’ve raised people to expect this. There are exceptions to that rule where families teach self reliance and not to depend on others for their own well-being, but there are too many who expect to be able to sit back relax and let Uncle Sugar take care of the rest.
When I talk to folks about Social Security it’s not unusual that someone will mention a great uncle, or grandfather, who refused the checks. Simply sent them back to Washington, unopened. Now nobody does that. Hell, Warren Buffet probably cashes his!
But men who were working in the ’20′s and ’30′s, who were not retired before the program was enacted? When they got checks from Uncle Sam in their retirement they were either insulted or embarrassed, and refused the “charity.”
I have been unemployed a few times and eligible for unemployment. I have never collected it. Friends and family would say, “Sign up. You paid into the system. It’s your money.” Nope. I did not do it. Now I agree with the program. I think it’s good to have an insurance safety net to help displaced workers, but to me it’s an emergency fund. If you can get by without it, be self-sufficient, you should do that and not take the money.
It all goes back to the schools. We are fast reaching a point where we WILL have to take action to thwart this government, and return the balance of power between the Feds, States and Peoples to the place intended by the Constitution.
However, once that is done, we need to clean out the viper’s nest that is our public school system, and our colleges. Those have been successfully used over the past 40 years to indoctrinate our youth, and the final solution obtained by slowly pushing parents out of the way.
AW1 Tim,
I agree with the importance of schools. We send our kids to parochial schools so they are getting some semblance of honor, respect, dignity, family… I went to public schools but there was a heavy helping of patriotism there. We started everyday with a pledge to our flag, even mentioning a nation under God, when there were NASA launches the whole school went into the gymnasium to watch them on a 21″, black and white TV, we had to pass a test on the Constitution or we were not admitted into 8th grade.
I believe all of those things are long gone.
The most worrying thing to me is that they know we are here and they don’t care. If the government had seemed shocked by the uprisings of average Americans and had stepped back and said “we will reconsider our actions because clearly the American people object to our course” that would have been one thing but that didn’t happen instead they scoffed and said “well we just need to make them understand what this is then they’ll like it” or “once they see what’s in it they’ll be happy”. This was one step away from “let them eat cake (I’ve always heard she actually said let them eat grass).” This is all part of the government’s hiding behind their own complexity to keep it’s actions unaccessible to the voters.
To me this doesn’t show a government on the verge of changing its ways. They’re laughing at us. We’re a joke to them and they do not fear us. While we march on the capitol we hope they’re quivering in fear but really they’re more along the lines of “oooh look they’re standing around outside”. They know most are too docile or cowardly to actually take action of consequence so there is no fear and when it comes to balance of power fear equals respect. Everyone from Jefferson to Franklin to Teddy Roosevelt preached the dangers of an electorate becoming “too civilized” because this is what they feared would happen. I’m not saying we should be violent people but they need to understand we view violent uprising as a legitimate option if their behavior continues.
The difference between an establishment republican and an establishment democrat is so thin that it is nearly invisible at this point so moving from one to the other does little good. We have to hope we can flood Washington with enough anti-establishment types to stop the bleeding.
I agree with you, Veruckt, but this has been so overwhelming, so different, that they are noticing. They can’t figure it out. They don’t understand it, but they are beginning to fear it. Things like the townhall meetings we saw last summer have never happened in my lifetime in anything close to the numbers we saw. It was a universal phenomenon everywhere a congressperson held an open meeting. Who could have imagined, three years ago, that Teddy Kennedy would die and Massachusetts would vote in a Republican to fill his seat?! Barbara Boxer is in a deadheat. Californians are close to throwing her out and replacing her with a Republican. A Republican that isn’t too well liked. The same with Harry Reid. And then, last weekend, a barely publicized rally hosted by a mormon radio host draws over half a million people to the mall?
Ohio, a swing state that went against McCain is now polling for Bush II over Obama by 20 points! Gallup (no right wing mouthpeice) is showing people rejecting Democrats by the hightest margin in the 60 year history of their polling.
There are many who seem incapable of understanding what is going on, but they are quickly becoming marginalized. The three networks continue to have the same old conversations with the same old pundits on the same old programs but they’ve been completely bypassed. Nobody is watching, and they know it. The media no longer controls the message and people are gravitating to the message they prefer. As someone wrote recently, their biggest fear is becoming irrelevant. With the ratings their television and radio news shows are getting, and the polling data they are seeing, and the election results they are seeing they are becoming irrelevant.
No, they do not understand, but they are confused and afraid.