Socialism in America: Grasshoppers and Greenhouses

Imagine with me, an early spring morning in a meadow. You can feel the breeze dancing along your face. The sun is sparkling, birds above you serenade their mother earth, and the smell of flowers is beginning to blossom all around you. As you look about, you can see two trees standing a way off. One is hidden by the walls of a greenhouse, and the other stands off another twenty yards or so. The tree in the greenhouse is a gorgeous silver oak, well cared for and healthy. This tree is under the constant care of an old gardener. The greenhouse provides the perfect climate for the tree. This tree has all the water and nutrients provided by the kind old man. It is well pruned, with soft, beautiful bark.

The other tree has never been cared for in it’s life. As you walk toward it, you can see the gnarled branches and scarred bark of the old sycamore. It cannot even compete with the beauty of the Oak. But you can see that this tree has succeeded in its quest for survival and strength. Through all the winds and rains, scorching and freezing, this Sycamore has grown by its own might. Though it is not physically appealing, it is strong and self-reliant. While the Oak in all it’s beauty is totally dependent on the old man.

As you stand there, the days begin to go by. Spring turns to summer, into Autumn, and now at last it is winter. The Oak is hidden away from the storm in comfortable protection by the gardener, while the Sycamore is fighting for it’s life. It is just like all the winters before. Each sheet of snow brings added strength to the old tree, as the Oak sits in it’s happy warmth, not heeding the weather at all.

But that was the same day the gardener died.

There is a type of freedom that comes from being self-reliant. Being able to produce and own your property and use it as you choose is a beautiful concept. Thomas Jefferson wrote it into the Declaration of Independence. He called it the unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. Which he originally wrote as the right to property. Being self-reliant and owning ones own property are ways of living happy lives. Sadly, America no longer protects our rights to freely pursue our own enterprises.

In painful contrast to the beauty capitalism offers, Americans now experience more of the ugly economic system we know as socialism. Socialism is defined by the merriam-webster dictionary as “a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism.” Allow me to direct your attention to a list discussed in congress in 1963. This was a list of “current communist goals” to make America into a socialist economy which, by definition, allows for communism to enter the government. The list, found in the Appendix to the Congressional Record, January 10th, 1963, comprises 45 goals to make America socialist. Out of 45 things proposed by communists to replace that beautiful system with socialism, the only one which has not come to pass is the dismantling of the FBI. In the last 51 years our nation has become exactly what socialists wanted it to become, if not directly by the government, then indirectly by the attitudes of the people.

Some of my listeners may not be convinced that simply a “socialist attitude” is a dangerous thing. Allow me to share a parody of Aesop’s fable of the ant and the grasshopper:

An ant had spent all summer working hard to prepare for the winter. He built his home and filled it with stores of food. Meanwhile, his friend the grasshopper just played the months away, never preparing for cold.

When winter came, all the grasshoppers had no food. So they elected a leader who would take care of them. This leader took half of what the ants had prepared, and redistributed it to all the grasshoppers. No one starved that winter.

The next summer, as the ant watched the grasshopper play, he decided that he would go play as well. After all, the government would take care of him. But almost everyone else thought the same thing. When winter came, there was not enough food, and everyone starved.

This is a way of thinking that stems from socialist ideas, and it obviously doesn’t bode well for the ants or the grasshoppers. Winston Churchill made this point in October of 1945 in the debate, Demobilisation, in which he said the following, and I quote; “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” It is imperative that people learn what is happening around them, so they will know what to do when the time comes. The way we can prepare for the political winter on the horizon is by education. It is by teaching the citizen that it is the citizen’s job to keep his country in check. To teach that in a free republic, it is the people’s job to insure the government does not overstep its bounds. But most people don’t maintain that control. Let me tell you about the 2012 presidential election.

In November of 2012 The United States Census Bureau published a statistical election report. This report detailed the eligible voter number with the number who actually voted for president. The results are depressing to say the least. Out of an estimated 319,154,900 citizens only 181,918,293 voted. That is a total of 57 percent. Almost half the people who claim the privileges of being American did not vote for the leader of their nation. According to information also supplied by the United States Census Bureau, if we were to rearrange the population, moving those who voted into the most populated states, and those who did not vote into the less populous, in the 2012 election, 39 entire states worth of people did not vote for their president. They didn't care about their rights, or their liberties. They just played all summer and waited for the gardener to care for them.

We each have an inalienable responsibility to defend our unalienable rights. It is not the grasshoppers job to feed us. We have not been guardians of our liberty! We stand at a crossroads. What we do now will determine the freedom and happiness of our posterity. If we continue the path we have begun, we will, in just a few short years, have to look our children in the eyes and tell them why we didn't fight for them.  It’s a very dark future, but there is a way to right our wrongs.

Consider the American Revolution. There was a great amount of complacency and a feeling of indifference towards England pervaded.  But there was a man by the name of Thomas Paine. He believed that if we would be free, that we must stand up and separate from Great Britain. But did he stand idly by? No, he wrote out the cause for which he so earnestly believed. People were ready to listen to him, and when he published his pamphlet, Common Sense, it became an all-time bestseller in one month. He educated the masses on his vision, and only several months following his pamphlet’s publication, the Declaration of Independence was signed, bringing his vision to fruition.

Like Paine had the power to change the course of history, each of us carries the potential to change the path toward socialism down which our country is heading. But simply because we can change doesn't cut it. These flaws which we have permitted to slip into our nation must be fixed if we wish to posses the happiness found in being self-reliant. We not only can educate, but we must! The first step is not just to tell others, but to act ourselves. We must be the ones to change. It is our roots which must grow deep to make our trees strong. Prepare for the winter to come. The grasshoppers have entered the White House. I urge you to reach out, and like Thomas Paine, build up yourself, and build up those around you. Socialism has taken root in America, and it is time to cut down that tree.

Welcome to America Farm, Comrades!

"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." George Orwell - Animal Farm

  Anybody who has read Animal Farm by George Orwell, will surely remember this statement found in the last chapter. We all remember reading those words and thinking, "More equal? How can one animal be more equal than another?" And after thinking it over for a moment or so we continued reading the book. And as we closed the book we then pondered that line again, but this time in context. We find ourselves asking, “More equal? Is it actually possible for one animal to be more equal than another?" and then the thought, "Could one group of humans be more equal than another?" Later I was reading it again, looking for the path that lead to this Unequal Equality, what I found stunned me. The government control of education, the complacent working class, and the use of a common enemy were the major things that caused Animal Farm to turn from it's vision of plenty, into the hideous Manor Farm. Those three things struck me because of their similarities to modern America.

  "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." (George Orwell, 1984), Orwell alluded to this idea in Animal Farm as the pigs would change the past to fit how they wanted the future to be. The process of changing the past was simple-control what the animals learn and you will control how they view the world, past and present. All that was required to generate those results was for the government to take control of the education. Similarly, Washington has been taking more and more ownership over our lives, especially education. The Common Core initiative, for example, is removing all local authority on education. Those in favor of the program would tell you that it is a purely optional program, state to state. But our Federal Government saw that as an opportunity to gain more control over education. After all, it's much easier to brainwash a nation when one group of bureaucrats determines what the entire nation's minds are filled with. It is scary to watch Orwell's prophecy of 1984 and the allegory of Animal Farm taking shape in our own government. The even scarier part is to see the brainwashed masses sitting idle as their government slowly but surely steals away their liberties, one pail of milk and one innocent puppy at a time.

  The key to keeping a society brainwashed is to keep them from asking questions. That way, when Napoleon comes in the night and steals the milk to put in the pigs mash nobody asks, or even wonders. If they do ask questions about it, Squealer quickly has a press conference to clear up the matter, dismissing all suspicion. And because pigs control the way people think, that is accepted as the sure truth. Likewise, when a bunch of cronies on Wall Street need help because of their errors, and people start asking questions (as we saw with Occupy Wall Street) the government stands up and blames the Economy. Because we don't think anymore, everyone accepts that as the sure truth. Back in Animal Farm we see the animals doing what they're told, because the pigs know better than everyone else. Comparing this to America, we've seen our Nation forming an Aristocracy, and because the politicians are so much smarter than we are, we neglect our responsibility to control them, and they run rampant. The worst example in Animal Farm is when Napoleon deceives the uneducated. He blamed everything and anything that went wrong, on the infamous terrorist, Snowball!

  In 2001 several hijacked planes shook the way we see the world. The terrorists were at fault then and the "terrorists" are at fault for most everything now. Back at the farm, the sudden destruction of the windmill was deemed Snowball's fault, and then "Snowball" was blamed for just about everything else. Now, I am not saying that 9/11 was not the terrorists fault, nor am I saying that many other things are not their fault. But I am saying that in both America and in Animal Farm the current leaders, Bush and Napoleon, used their common enemies to their advantage. Napoleon immediately heightened security, and cracked down on all those who may have been in league with Snowball. He used this increase of security to cover and justify many very un-Animalist actions. In striking similarity, Bush heightened out national security with the Patriot Act. That security has not been used as we were told it was intended to be, and has been used more to spy on and keep it's own citizens in line than anything else. Since then our government has done even more un-Constitutional things in the name of security and to protect us from "the terrorists". We only have to look to Orwell to see what we are to expect to come from that.

  Orwell had vision. He understood the natural human mind, and did us all a favor by writing a fairy-story to show not only what had happened in the past, but what would surely happen again if we are not careful. Because of our lack to maintain local control of education, there is a sharp decrease in our nations thinking and questioning ability. As a result our nation has become more complacent and stupid than ever before. Now our government is using our common enemy the "terrorists" to pave the way for our demise.Comrades, even as we speak, our government is becoming more equal than the rest of us. Washington has moved into the Manor and the Presidency is putting on Mr. Jones' clothes.

What Kids Need, and What the Government Gives Them

I believe that this country is headed for collapse. I also believe that we can save it. The education system is what is ripping us apart. You can trace almost any problem in our modern day society back the our corrupt schooling system. We need to change the public schooling system in order to turn our world around. We can fix this! If we can manage it our country will return to it’s former glory in just a few generations.

When was the last time you had control over what was taught at school? What is taught to the future of America! We are in a position where, if not stopped, it will take us down a path to tyranny and slavery. This is explained very clearly by the following statistics:

• 3,030,000 Students drop out of high school every year
• In the 50 largest cities in America 59% of students drop out of high school
• 75% of crimes in the US are committed by high school dropouts

This does not look like a system that works. The problems in this society obviously have been flowing from the public schooling systems. Where children are taught what is, and isn’t true.

Where do the majority of American children learn “Truth” from? The public schooling system. But the problem is that the government controls this method, because of the separation of church and state, and because of outspoken minorities, God and religion are taken out of the equation. What does this result in? Easily moldable children being taught that “truth” is whatever the government deems to be “politically correct”. This is not right. This is not freedom. People with power want to keep their power (see D&C 121:39). This is one of the reasons that our country is failing. Truth has been replaced by political correctness and standardized testings. The youth of today are our future, and the government of today is taking away their knowledge of truth. They are denying us of our truth!

And we know that the violation (or denial) of truth brings less freedom.

Our country, the one that stands for freedom and justice, is destroying itself in the name of freedom! We are already experiencing the problems as the last generation has reached adulthood and too many are still completely reliant on the government for money, food, clothing, and housing. To fix this we need to do away with the “No Child Left Behind” Program, the new common core program, standardized testing, and federal control of the schooling program. We need to move the responsibility of public education  back to the states where it belongs. These are the steps that need to happen in order to bring back our glory.

The lack of truth in our schooling system and reliance on the government has caused our country to enter the state it is in now. Our country is headed for collapse. The many reasons for this can be brought back to the public schools. This is fixable, but it will require a huge change to the modern schooling system.

Constitutional Powers: What happened to the 25?

"What powers does the government have under the Constitution?" 

   When we first see this question we may think of the many fingers of government that have reached into ever facet of our lives. If you thought of those thousands of "powers" being exercised by our government, I commend you, at least you know what is going on in America. But you're wrong. There're only 25 powers even implied in the original Constitution. This is a drastic difference from what we see today. What powers was the government given originally? How have those changed? What happened to cause those changes? Our government has reached far beyond it's bounds, and as a result, we are losing our freedoms. 

   Initially, our government was very limited. They were only given 25 powers, some of which are only implied and may not have been purposefully included. To counter that already minimal list, there also placed nine regulations upon them. When we look into our governmental processes it can be difficult to imagine what these powers may have been. 

1. To lay and collect import duties.
2. To pay the debts of the U.S. Government.
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and Indian Tribes.
4. To regulate commerce among the States.
5. To regulate immigration.
6. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization.
7. To establish uniform laws on bankruptcy throughout the United States.
8. To coin money and regulate its value and that of foreign coin, and to issue bills of credit.
9. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
10. To fix the standard of weights and measures.
11. To provide and regulate postal services.
12. To establish protection for intellectual property, including patent, copyright, and trademark rights.
13. To constitute lower national courts.
14. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations.
15. To declare war, authorize warlike activities by other than the armed forces, and make rules concerning captures.
16. To raise, support and regulate the armed forces.
17. To govern what part of the Militia shall be employed in the service of the United States.
18. To exercise general Legislation over federal ground, which is limited to federal territories and districts, land purchased from states with the consent of their legislatures, U.S. flag vessels on the high seas, and the grounds of U.S. embassies abroad.
19. To guarantee a republican form of government to the States.
20. To enter into a treaty, alliance, or confederation with a foreign state.
21. To declare the punishment for treason.
22. To prescribe the manner in which the acts, records, and judicial proceedings of each state shall be proved to other states and what should be done about them.
23. To admit new states into the Union.
24. To dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.
25. To make laws necessary and proper for executing the powers delegated to the U.S. government.

These are the basic necessities of a good, sound, strong government. A government needs to be kept to it's bounds, or it will grow and, in the end, will turn on it's creators and consume their freedom. 

   To help to stop the government from consolidating itself and expanding, consequentially becoming a more tyrannical one, the founders placed restrictions on what the national government could do. 

1. No exercise of powers not delegated to it by the Constitution.
2. No payment from the Treasury except under appropriations made by law.
3. Excises and duties must be uniform throughout the United States.
4. [The government] Shall pass no tax or duty on articles exported from any state.
5. No appointment of a senator or representative to any civil office which was created while he was a member of Congress or for which the amount of compensation was increased during that period.
6. No preferences to the ports of one state over another in regulation or tax collection.
7. No titles of nobility shall be granted by the U.S. government, or permitted to be granted to government officials by foreign states.
8. [The government] May not protect a State against domestic violence without the request of its legislature, unless it cannot be convened, in which case, without the consent of its executive.
9. U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over suits against a state by citizens of another state or foreign country.

There are other negatives on the power of government, but they can be boiled down to these nine. As we look at both of these lists we see first, that this government is far larger than it was ever meant to be, and second, that the government has directly violated the Constitution many times. As a result of those changes, we are seeing an ever more tyrannical government. 

   The changes that plague our nation are countless. One need only hunt down a list of bills being processed to see how terrible the plague really is. We see laws regulating and over regulating business. We watch as taxes are taken from us at ever greater amounts; by a government that isn't even allowed to tax you directly. We tremble in fear of massive laws that no human being has ever read that drastically change our very lifestyle. And among many other things, we now have a president that has publicly told us that he intends to use executive action (not a power given by the government) to move his socialist agenda along, with or without the consent of the congress. 

   These are just a few of the countless things that our government is doing that overreach their constitutional bounds. But what are some of the major events that rocked those foundations? Over the four major waves that have hit America, the waves have crushed our freedoms, and opened large rifts that allowed the government to overstep it's bounds. 

   The first "wave" came from 1803 to 1824. During this wave, the Judicial Branch ruled that they had power to determine the Constitutionality of any and all laws. This is second nature to us now, but the implications of that ruling are exponential in allowing the government to overstep it's rules. In allowing the government to decide what the government could do, it basically negates the Constitution entirely. The only thing that was really kept the Constitution alive was the check and balances of government. That kept itself from overreaching and throwing off the Constitution.

   The second wave hit just after the Civil War. In the aftermath of such a horrific event, the government vastly overstepped it's bounds. Though, I find that many of the decisions were good, they were went about in the wrong way. From this point on, everyone accepted that the government was the power, not the states. This was not very wrong at the time, but it opened the door wide for the next wave.

   The third came in and around the year 1913. The 17th Amendment was passed. This took away one of the biggest protections of the Constitution, ever. This was the states appointing the Senators. The door that was opened by Lincoln now took the power from the states. 

   The fourth started in 2008 with the Wall Street fiasco and huge government bailouts. Following that we saw many things explicitly outlined in the Constitution being violated. Ex post facto laws have been passed left and right. Bills of Attainder are also. Everything is in chaos.

   Everything we've seen so far has shown how our government has corrupted the Constitution. It is sickening to think about all the breaches that have happened. And it makes us wonder, as we look at all the freedoms and rights we have lost, and are losing, if they have taken those things away, can they not take away more? Can they keep expanding? This requires a call to action. Will we stand for our rights? There are specific things we need to approach as a nation. The biggest thing we can do now is push the congress to repeal the 17th. This is the first step. Once we do that, we can start bringing power back to the States and take power from the President. We need to do that. 

   The Constitution in an inspired document. It is the standard by which our government should abide. It is not. As a result we have lost, and our losing many freedoms. We need to promote change. If we can shift the power center back to the states, we can have a rebirth of freedom. If we do not stand for our liberties and for our Constitution, we will be forced to kneel to the government that was once our own. The time is near. We have a decision to make. I echo the admonition made by our beloved president George Washington, "The time is near at hard which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves". This stands as true today as it was at the time of the revolution. Will we stand 4 the Constitution? 

Calling America: An Epistle

What really matters?

“There shall be no more tyranny. A handful of men cannot seize power over thousands. A man shall choose who it is shall rule over him. . . . We give all we have, lives, property, safety, skills . . . we fight, we die, for a simple thing. Only that a man can stand up.”--James Otis, Johnny Tremain.






America is falling. No observant or educated person who has lived in this country can deny that. Yet, even as this great nation; this great kingdom is falling, many do nothing. Many continue their daily lives with nothing but little interest for their freedom. They’ve got a point, right? Why should we do anything for this country? One person couldn’t possibly have any effect on this nation. America’s going to fall anyway; it’s too late to do anything about it. So, let’s sit at home and be endorsed by the government while we eat potato chips and watch pointless television shows.

This country is worth it. This is no random nation. Our forefathers fought and sacrificed everything they had for this country. This is the land that was promised to our fathers hundreds of years ago. This land is a chosen land. Christ will reign personally upon this land when the time comes. There are so many reasons that we must save this nation. Do we care about this great land? Sometimes I wonder if people really care about college football more than this chosen country. Sometimes I wonder whether people really have more interest in their mansions, fancy cars, and riches than in this divine cause.

Even if we don’t care, God still cares about this nation. Certainly that means something to us. The Divine Being who governs the universe and everything in it will, if we violate His laws, sweep us off the face of His chosen land. We are God’s chosen people, but that also means that we have a greater responsibility to observe His commands and His laws. If you don’t care about this country, you will one day wish that you cared.

Do you not believe me that God cares about this nation? How can you think such a thing? Remember, o people, what the Lord has done for our fathers. He undoubtedly led the Pilgrims across this sea in order for them to be able to worship Him in this land. This is evident in the suffering of the Pilgrims. It was highly improbable that these people would survive the winter, and there is only one explanation for why they did: God. And again, how could a small bunch of inexperienced “soldiers” from a group of small colonies come together to defeat the greatest army and navy force that the world has ever seen? Only God could have caused that to happen. How could a nation survive for more than two hundred years? Only through divine help from above has this nation done great things, and only through that help will it continue to live.

Not many could say it better than Thomas Paine did: “THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” We each have a choice. We can choose God and live in prosperity and freedom in this chosen land. This will take much hardship and suffering in the moment, but it must be worth it in the long run. We can choose this great life, or we can choose to relax now and therein obtain captivity and death according to the plan of devils. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” Joshua once wrote. Regardless of your choice, though, God and freedom will live on. Thomas Paine intelligently illustrates the idea once again: “for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.”

Religion in America: Has America Ceased to be Great?

   What makes a free society? Not only free in name, as ours claims to be, but in fact. What is the key to a truly free nation? Is it a coincidence that God is mentioned three times in Declaration of Independence? Or that our very Pledge of Allegiance states that this country is "one nation under God"? Is it surprising that our first right defended in the Bill of Rights is the right to religion? The founders made it very clear that our type of government is meant "only for a moral and religious people." We have seen a degradation of our morality. One needs not look far to see that. The role of religious freedom in a free nation is tremendous. If we do not defend that liberty, we do not defend any liberty.

The founders believed in freedom. Freedom of all kinds. Freedoms from, freedoms to, freedom in general-was the essence of their lives. But out of all the rights, all the freedoms, out of 189 rights proposed for the Bill of Rights, the first one lists the right to worship. What does this tell us about the founding era? We can tell that they valued religion highly. In the founding era we saw a huge fire of religion. Alexis De Tocqueville, a powerful writer of the early American model, said this of our country;

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." (De Tocqueville, Democracy in America)  

Even this French politician recognized that our strength as a society comes from our righteousness. Following this period of religious fervor we saw tremendous prosperity! Now we find ourselves often asking, "Where is the prosperity? Where is the American dream?" This is the answer. America is ceasing to be good, so America has ceased to be great.

We've seen a moral decay in modern America. This has caused a parallel decay in our greatness as a nation. We have also seen many attacks on our religion that have caused this. But do those attacks have a direct affect on our other liberties? Many people would argue that they have no relationship with each other. This is false. They are very intimately connected. Freedom of Religion is the first of our Liberties protected by the Constitution. All rights come from somewhere. They are either God-given or they are government-given. They are Natural Laws or they are Posit Laws. The main difference between these types of rights is the principle that if the government gives you a right, the government can take away that right. Remember, God gives each of his children unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (or property, an extension of your life). What happens when we take God out of the equation? Now our right to life is something that the government gave us. Consequentially, the government can then take away our lives. This as well as our property and our liberties.

Sound familiar? That's because our government is doing those very things (or are preparing to). At the center of every controversial topic we see this debate. Gun ownership, the right to protect your God-given rights, is one point that the government is attempting to remove-and thus make it easier to remove our God-given rights. Government demands that we pay them so that they can fund abortion; so they can take innocent lives. Every day we see more of our fundamental rights are being violated by our government. This is all the result of our nation disregarding religion more and more. When you take God out of your education and then teach children that the rights that the government protects came when the founders signed the Declaration, they will assume that the government can take them away. If we do not fight for our right to worship now, then we will not have that right later.

We have seen that as a result of morality and religion our nation has prospered. Right now, we are neither moral nor religious. But this does not mean we cannot return. We have not lost our rights. We need to stand for those rights that God, the ultimate being, granted each of us. We need to bring religion back into schools, into government. If we do that we can begin to rise from the muck and filth that now surrounds our politics. Let me echo the words of our great founder, John Adams, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Robinson Crusoe: An Archetype of America?

What constitutes a government? Is it the force behind a large nation? Or can a government be found on a small island where one shipwrecked man fights to survive? In reading one of the greatest classics, Robinson Crusoe, I couldn't help but compare the way that he, Robinson Crusoe, governs "his man Friday", to how our government governs us today. Several things in particular that I noted from the way he governs Friday versus how our government works are things like, how they differ in their governing, how they treat those they govern, and what their perception of the governed are. When we look at a story of such significance in actually shaping great governments, we can start to understand and bring out the fundamental flaws that have been hiding in our modern system of government.

How does Washington treat it's citizens? Each day it seems we hear of some new law or act of government welfare. Our government constantly is bailing people out, spending imaginary money on, and "helping" people. In contrast, we see Robinson Crusoe who, though he helps Friday, is going about doing that in a totally different way. He always has Friday's welfare at heart, even if it is only for the purpose of keeping him alive to be his slave. But instead of just pampering him and not allowing him to fail, he is constantly teaching him how to take care of himself. He teaches him how to use tools, how to read, how and what to worship. Once more, we see a point to compare. Our government is constantly promoting education, but not the purpose behind it. Likewise to Crusoe, our government promotes jobs and working under others. As we look at this, we see the sound judgement behind Crusoe, and find some flaws in our government. Flaws like over-excessive debt, promoting idleness through welfare, and not giving people the opportunity to try-with the pretense of not wanting them to fail. But these are only a few of the flaws that we will uncover as we look at it from the perspective of "My Man Friday".

What were some of the tactics that Crusoe used in his governing? This is where we start to see similarities that startlingly similar. We see Crusoe setting himself up as a superior in all ways. He is better than Friday at the language, he is Fridays portal to God. He's the one that Friday needs to survive. By doing that, Crusoe gains all power over Friday. Similarly we see our government setting up a superiority complex over the masses. By using the welfare, complicated wording in legislation, long dry debates, and high standards of living, our government sets themselves above the masses. When they do that, it creates a wide gap between them and the government. We are starting to see the shadows of an aristocracy forming.

We also see the contrasting views of who their governed are. Robinson Crusoe sees Friday as a lesser race, but still as a human. In his work with Friday, we see him taking the responsibility to govern because it is his right. At the same time, he treats him as a fellow human, but one of a lesser class and age. Here we see a very strict caste system. A system that is based on an assumption that one man is inherently better than another. In contrast, the United States is infamous for its over-the-top equality. The government is constantly promoting equal rights, supplying equal things, and, in short, trying to erase all distinction. This is not bad. Equality is good, if you go about it the right way. Which we don't. But even with all those taxpayers dollars being invested into breaking those gaps, we are only forming larger rifts! As we pointed out before, the government is making it so, "in the name of equality" an aristocracy is forming. We see the rich getting richer (and more politically powerful) and the poor getting poorer (and exponentially less powerful in politics).  This is a fundamental flaw the plagues our nation today. And the rift is only getting wider.

In looking at a classic of such renown, we have been able to uncover many flaws lurking in the shadows of our government. We have seen things like debt, welfare, government regulation, as well as many others. These and other things are increasing the feeling of aristocracy in America. It's our responsibility to change this. If we sit by and watch as these flaws ferment into something far worse, then we will have that much of a harder time fixing things. We need more people who do not rely on the government for their living. We need to start building small businesses to fight poverty. We need to become more involved in our future, and not give all the power to Washington and let them run wild. Specifically we need to abolish the seventeenth amendment. This will move power back into our states, and help to keep Washington in the peoples hands. If we do this, our government may once more become on "of the people, by the people, and for the people". That's the real kind of government.

What I Would Do If I Was President

 I understand that the president of the United States is undoubtedly the most powerful position on Earth. Also though, you have to realize that with great power comes great responsibility. Being the president of this country is also the toughest leadership position to be in. Now, what would I do as president of the United States? I can never be sure because I have never been in the position (obviously). These things aren’t necessarily what I would do, but I would definitely attempt them. Our country is plummeting downward right now, and there are so many problems that nobody can even count, not to mention solving them. I may not be able to fix these problems, but I can try.

            The first thing I would attempt to do is repeal the 17^th amendment to the United States Constitution. Why would I do this? Well, the 17^th amendment establishes direct election of United States senators by popular vote. This means the senators, instead of being appointed by the state legislature like they used to be, are now elected by us, the people. You may think this is a good thing, because it gives the people more power and more freedom, but this is a horrible amendment. I will tell you why. First of all, only one delegate who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that supported electing senators by popular vote. Seeing this, we must realize that this amendment takes away the brilliance of the Constitution, and minors the amazing government in which it brought this country. Here is why: the people of the United States already have Congress representation in the House of Representatives. The point of the state legislatures appointing senators was to give the states representation in Congress. Often the states’ desires and wants differ from the people’s wants and desires. We need to get rid of this amendment because the states need Congress representation, so that we can have stronger states, as well as strong people and a strong country. The states need Congress representation. We need to follow the principles of the Constitution, the most brilliant document ever written. We can not turn away from what God has given us through our founding fathers. Congress representation is the first thing I would give the states if I was president of this country.

It's hard to say what I would do if I worked in
Washington

            Another huge problem in our country right now is National Debt. The federal government has been borrowing money from other states (mainly China) to pay for government-funding programs that we don’t even need. Now, states like China won’t even let the federal government borrow more money, so the federal government is using money that they don’t have to pay for programs that they don’t need. Plus, we are in a lot of debt to China and other states. How dumb is that? That would be another problem which I would attempt to fix. You may ask: how do you eliminate debt? Well, here is how I would do it. Two words: create jobs. How does this eliminate debt? When people don’t have jobs, they rely on the government for money, and right now the federal government is giving them money so that they don’t have to work. So instead of using their revenue to pay off debt, the federal government is using it to give the people who don’t work. I will not blame some of them, though, because some just can’t find jobs to work at. So how would I create jobs for these people? One man who came up with a great plan to create jobs was Mitt Romney. I don’t believe in everything that Romney has done, but this plan is genius. So, to create jobs, I would use Mitt Romney’s famous five-point plan: 1. Take advantage of our energy. This will give people more jobs in energy. 2. Teach children in schools skills for their later lives. This is crucial because the next generation will always be handling the problems which the last generation left behind for them to fix. Also, the more skills they have, the more jobs they will be able to get. 3. Create trade agreements with other states. This will give more jobs to the people of the U.S. by boosting U.S. exports, which will create or support hundreds of thousands of jobs. 4. Support more entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are the people who create jobs, because they create businesses which give people jobs. 5. Champion small business. By reducing taxes on small business, we can create more opportunity for the businesses to give people jobs. This is a brilliant five point plan which will create jobs for people so that they will not have to rely on the government for money. I would also attempt to eliminate useless government programs which give people (who are capable of working) money so that they do not have a desire to work. I may send some of these programs to the states as well, because the states could handle them more efficiently than the federal government.

            Another thing I would attempt to do as president (and the last thing I will mention here) is promote principles. I believe that this will fix many of the biggest problems this country has. Three of the biggest problems we have are: One, we are turning away from the principles of the Constitution and the brilliant government system it has given us. Two, as a people, we are lacking morality. We aren’t as moral as we once were as a people. Three, the American people do not believe in this country. We don’t believe in the American Dream or the Land of Opportunity anymore, because there is no guarantee that if we graduate from college that we will get a good job. By promoting principles, we can help people realize that we need to embrace the Constitution, become more moral, and believe in America.

            These are three things I would attempt to do if I was president, so that I could help turn this train around so that it doesn’t nose-dive off of the cliff that it is headed towards. This is possibly the most crucial aspect of this place and this time period: getting America back to the state where it once was. That is what I would help to do if I was president of the United States of America.

The Gettysburg Address: Is God Dead In America?

            Last Tuesday was the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address", a speech that we can all agree helped shape and define America. On the morning of this anniversary, I was sitting in a class at my local Junior High School. It was the first period of the day, so the loudspeaker came on for announcements. After the bulk of the announcements, a boy came on the loudspeaker and said, "Today is the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address!" He proceeded to read the speech. However, I was disturbed by what he recited. The wording of the speech that he was reading was far from the wording of the Gettysburg Address that I knew. What is going on here? I asked myself. My initial thought was that he was trying to recite the speech from memory, and that he was failing very badly. However, at these were his words at the end of the speech: "...that these dead shall not have died in vain, that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." He had omitted God from the Gettysburg Address! At this point, I was furious. The school district must not allow God in schools. Lincoln would be ashamed. I thought. However, I thought nothing else of it as I went about experiencing my Tuesday. However, my anger was re-kindled that evening when I came across this video:

            My anger was now as hot as a burnt potato bursting out of an over-sized volcano. However, a lot of this anger was a result of my ignorance on this issue. I suspected that something was going on, so I decided to do a little bit of research. This is what I discovered:

Obviously, nobody knows the exact words that came out of Abraham Lincoln's mouth during the Gettysburg Address, because it was a speech. We know the exact words of the Constitution, because the Constitution was always meant to be a physical, written document. You can't know the exact words of a speech unless you record that speech, and unfortunately, a sound recording of the Gettysburg Address is not available. As a result of this, there are five original copies of the Gettysburg Address: 

The "Nicolay Copy" 

The "Hay Draft"

The "Everett Copy"

The "Bancroft Copy"

The "Bliss Copy"

            The first two of these copies (the Nicolay and the Hay) were drafts written by Lincoln before giving the speech. These copies are often referred to as the first and second drafts of the Gettysburg Address. Neither of these drafts include the words "under God" in them. These copies were originally written by Lincoln before giving his speech, and the drafts are named after John Nicolay and John Hay, who were two of Lincoln's secretaries. Obviously, neither of these drafts include Lincoln's signature, because they were only notes to himself. Scholars disagree on which of these copies was the actual paper that Lincoln used as a reference during his speech, but it makes more sense that the Hay Draft would be the paper, because it was the second draft of the speech, and the wording is closer to the wording of many newspaper reports of the speech.   

Abraham Lincoln, shortly after delivering "The
Gettysburg Address"

          The remaining three copies (the Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss) were copies that Lincoln wrote after delivering the Gettysburg Address. All three of these copies each include the words "under God" in them. Lincoln wrote these copies by hand as a request from three different people at three different times (Edward Everett, George Bancroft, and Alexander Bliss). Many experts accept the Bliss copy as the Gettysburg Address, because it is the only copy out of all five that includes Lincoln's signature (the Bliss copy was also the only Gettysburg Address that I knew on Tuesday). 

         The copy that was being quoted by President Obama and the boy at the Junior High School is the Nicolay copy (the copy that is believed to be the first draft of the Gettysburg Address). It doesn't make any sense that they would choose to quote the first draft, because Lincoln obviously changed his speech after writing the first draft. It would have made a lot more sense if they would've quoted the Hay draft, at least. It certainly would've made a lot more sense to quote any of the drafts that were written after Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, because the drafts that were written afterwards are obviously a lot more accurate! There is only one explanation for this: politicians and government want to get rid of God in this country.

        Why is it important that we have God in our country? Think about it: this country was based on principles of religious freedom. Religious freedom was the purpose for the Pilgrims and the Puritans coming to America. Look at America's history. Without God, we would be nothing. America would not be independent from Great Britain without God, because the Revolutionary War obviously wouldn't have been won without God. Without God's help, this country would have certainly been split in two at the time of the Civil War. Look at history! This is God's chosen land, but it is becoming something else, and this will undoubtedly bring the curses of God upon us. Where are you, America? Wake up! Millions of us want to take God off of our currency, out of Congress, and out of our Pledge of Allegiance. We have to stop this. Unless we turn this train around, it will plummet into the depths of hell and destruction.

        If there is one thing that I know about the Gettysburg Address, it is this: the words "under God" were uttered by Abraham Lincoln in his speech on November 19, 1863. All three of Lincoln's copies of the Gettysburg Address that were written after he gave the speech mention these words. Multiple newspapers that initially reported the Gettysburg Address mention these words. William E. Barton, one of Lincoln's most famous biographers, says this on the issue: 

"Every stenographic report, good, bad and indifferent, says 'that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom.' There was no common source from which all the reporters could have obtained those words but from Lincoln's own lips at the time of delivery. It will not do to say that [Secretary of War] Stanton suggested those words after Lincoln's return to Washington, for the words were telegraphed by at least three reporters on the afternoon of the delivery."

The arguments for Lincoln's first two drafts of the Gettysburg Address are hereby void. Lincoln had added impromptu words in many of his past speeches. All proof and evidence of the wording of this speech points to the two words "under God". Lincoln was a man of God, and under God, Lincoln kept this nation united in the midst of the Civil War. The Gettysburg Address is a witness and a testimony of this truth:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate--we cannot consecrate--we cannot hallow--this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." --Abraham Lincoln