America

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. -Patrick Henry


    Over the course of the last twenty years in the United States of America citizens have slowly been giving up their rights granted to them in the Constitution of the United States.  These rights that have been granted have been given back to the government out of fear, and have been willing to sacrifice these rights for personal protection.  Questions that every citizen should ask themselves is “When must I take a stand and demand my rights to protect myself and my beliefs, and when is it too late to take that stand.”  This country was founded upon freedoms and the ability to express themselves, to live freely without persecution, the foundation and freedoms which we so hold dear.
    During the first 200 years of this grand nation, our country went from being a small wilderness country to achieving our Manifest Destiny.  Our country stood against tyranny and oppression and liberated the world in World War I and World War II.  Our country became an economic giant and held superpower status with one other country.  What has our country provided to the world as the only superpower since the Cold War and has it damaged the world beyond repair, or how do we fix it?  A question that should be asked to our leaders and one that should be discussed among our future leaders of the country, our children.
    Educating children of this country has been pushed out of the schools, instead teachers have become childcare providers for children until they finish the twelfth grade.  America’s public education system was once the greatest in the world but it is constantly slipping in the world as a place for good public education.  While elementary education is slipping the countries collegiate standards remain the same, making it difficult for students to finish college or retain the information learned.  How do we fix the status of America’s public education system, to once again rival other nations and produce the best and brightest in the world?  Once smarter students are being introduced into the world, will moral reforms be necessary and should the government be responsible for moral laws.
    Morality exists and immorality is just the absence of morality.  When was it decided upon that the United States Government should be responsible for passing moral legislation that effects everyday life.  During the 1920’s prohibition occurred in the United States, a time when organized crime was rampant, because the United States took a moral stance, one that the citizens rejected and prohibition was revoked in the 1930’s.  America has taken the same stance against marijuana, cocaine, and targeting a product that is single handedly responsible for allowing the United States of America to survive in the early stages, tobacco.  What can our country learn from other countries that have legalized drug usage and how can we utilize the knowledge that they have to better our society.
    Citizens of the United States it is your responsibility to question the government, to help shape the society that you want to live in.  Not a society where the minority gets everything that they want, but the majority is willing to compromise with the minority to live in harmony, free of oppression and with the rights that our Constitution gave us, and the rights that we should take because it makes sense to have them.  If action is not taken and those rights afforded to the people, we begin to lose everything, and before you know it, its 1984.

-Publius