“The right of nature… is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life.”
- Thomas Hobbes
The ideals of governments in the modern political world are in the saddest state the world has ever seen. Across the political realm of the world, governments are no longer a symbol of the people. Turn back the clocks 200 years and the politics of America are of complete dissent.
In 1776, fifty-six rebels of a short minded and inconsiderate mother country signed a document that declared that America would take it upon themselves to not only be free from a tyrannous alien government, but also to form a government that would tax the people of a new and free land. These men were amateurs. Amateurs at breaking away from a country that protected and supplied them while taking advantage of them. Amateurs at coming up with ideas of how a free nation should be ran.
America was an idea. A place where people could seek religious freedom or a leave a life that was no longer fit. To start such a nation, men would have to take the roll of heroes to make this country work. Men like John Adams. Adams may be best known for his lack of work as the first Vice President of the United States, but Adams did so much more as a country man beforehand. The simple lawyer represented the most politically rich area of the country when he said that we need to go to war and face an opponent that is more unified, better equipped, and better trained. Facing a giant, Adams saw the war as the greatest chance to make a country by using men fighting for a cause. Call it a bold move or a political idea, he was right. If we took men to fight for a united cause, we could in turn do something great.
Don’t Tread On Me
Spoiler alert: America wins its independence. So here we are. We’ve started to act like a real country. We have started a war, built an alliance, and accumulated debt. Now all that’s left to do is form an outline for how our government will be used to run the country. Enter: the Articles of Confederation. Probably the weakest form of government ever drawn up, but what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. It’s true the Articles didn’t cause the demise of the U.S. but how close did they come?
Passed in1777, the document that would rule the land for a mere 12 years, prevented some of the most important roles in the government to have wiggle room. The government couldn’t levy taxes to support itself which is what governments need to use in order to pay for services and protection. The Second Continental Congress passed certain laws to limit the government from being too powerful, fearing a second coming of the situation that America had just left. People demanded something better to be brought upon to make an effective, yet controlled government. The Constitution would meet everyone’s needs and then some.
The Good Times Are Killing Me
By the time the Constitution was passed people demanded their rights be spelled out for everyone. The first ten amendments, better known as the Bill of Rights, did what no other form of democratic government could do. Thanks to this, we all have the rights that many countries resent us for. Freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of religion are perhaps the greatest rights that anyone has been granted by their government. This was all done by men who had no idea what they were doing, other than knowing they had to take action. Together they formed an institution for how we would live our lives today.
It couldn’t have been aneasy thing to set up. A few years after a bloody war, people wanted security and rights to know that they would be taken care of. So essentially what the Constitution did was reassure people that we are on our own and better off. The creative party that would be would give power to three branches, the legislative, judicial, and executive (headed by one man). The one man selected for the job would be none other than a war hero who had gotten the country to this point in history. The obvious leadership qualities echoed dimly as George Washington took the first Presidential Oath of Office.
From there on out strides towards history would be made. Instances like Marbury v. Madison that set up judicial review and Hamilton’s case for a national bank; ordinary people took on the rolls of extraordinary men.
Bulls On Parade
Conceptual American government went on to see its triumphs and tragedies. We have seen the likes of four term presidents to the assassination of presidents. We watched as an American stepped foot on soil of a foreign planet and saw men die trying to get there. But the likelihood of seeing what we all have seen today, is something that the forefathers of this country would weep over. President Washington in his farewell speech from office warned people of what the damage could be if political parties took over. Over 200 years ago, Washington predicted a problem of today.
The controversy of health care reform is the talk of towns everywhere. Just the idea of formulating an affordable and effective way to cover all Americans is something that many just aren’t ready for. We came out in record numbers to vote for a leader in Barack Obama to show us the way to feeling safe again. Safe that none of us have to worry; if I get sick tomorrow, can I get help getting better? Safety in once again being able to buy goods and services that come from this country. Safety in the job market, with staggering numbers of people unemployed in this country, we really haven’t had the ability to spend money on non-essential things. People, we are hurting ourselves and finally no one is left to blame but ourselves.
Perhaps the biggest problem lies within the breeding of our political system. Kids with predominately rich backgrounds are being brought up to face a world that is pre-cut for them through greed and angst. Congressmen, they are elected to serve the people. In the biggest sense of the word, they are the closest to people as you can get in Washington. They are ex-school teachers or lawyers who see a problem and think ‘Hey I can fix that!’ but in short, they can’t. Senators are the worst of them all in the house. The upper house that is, where they stay and accept their lobbyist paychecks to fund their next campaign. Nothing can be done about this because there are two types of Senators. There are the ones who do nothing and the ones who work for money to run and only worry about the next campaign. It is quite possible in my eyes, that the men elected in the senate are looking at this bill are forgetting their constituents and saying fuck you, I get health care, may you should have graduated from one of our pristine universities that will put you into debt for the rest of your life.
What I am trying to say here is that it’s no longer about the people; it’s about the money and sex scandals and the next term. What’s sickening is we are doing nothing about it. Think back to the 60’s and 70’s, the drug culture and the Vietnam War. People back then protested when they knew something this wrong was going on, but today with our involvement in a war that is questionable with our involvement, little outcry on the scale of the Vietnam War has been done.
In Mexico, new legislation has recently been passed that allows for citizens to carry a personal amount of marijuana on them with no penalty. Granted the drug corrupted system in Mexico where jails are overcrowded to drug related offenses is cause for some of this. In this 3rd world country to our south, they have managed to get past the religious views and get a final pass on gay marriage.
This Is Your Life And It’s Ending One Minute At A Time
So where do our problems in America lie? Is it the government and the whores that make it run? Wait, no, it has to be the rest of the world, right? Wrong. The biggest problem in America—other than the men running it feel they are seasoned and know what to expect but they really are just as lost as all of us—is there is no counter culture calling the shots in the underground. Ask Tyler Durden and he’ll say:
“Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not… fuck with us.”
The counter culture makes the news, they are the ones who make the perfect world of congressmen and senators go round, yet we aren’t playing the cards we’ve been dealt. If we had half the mind of revolution in this country, do you think we’d be better off?
“Your anger is a gift.”
- Zack de la Rocha
