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Remembering America on Her Birthday
by Jim Babka
July 4, 2004Today is Independence Day. It's a special day; a day to remember our liberty. For those of us who are precise thinkers – committed to the founder's principles – this day is filled with mixed emotion.
For us, it is not merely a day to shoot-off fireworks, fire-up the grill, or go on vacation (all of which are acceptable ways to celebrate). Sure, we appreciate those good things. But we also recognize what's been lost, for our Founding Fathers left us a tremendous legacy.
We had a FEDERALIST system of REPUBLICAN government, with PEACE AND TRANQUILITY because we had a government limited to ENUMERATED POWERS that maximized CITIZEN REPRESENTATION and honored INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY.
Federalism is the idea that states had a right to be different. This meant they had to compete with each other to attract citizens and that the federal government existed for the benefit of the states. But that got turned on its head. Today states are measly fiefdoms of the national government. Federalism was sacrificed during the Civil War to end the evil of slavery. And the remaining vestiges of federalism were ripped away from us nearly a century later to combat another evil – government-imposed segregation.
In 1913 the "pursuit of happiness" was purloined for the good of "progress." 1913 was a really bad year for the United States. In that year Republicanism was destroyed to bring about Democracy with the passage of the 16th and 17th Amendments. The 16th Amendment allowed for the direct taxation of your income and 17th provided for the direct election of Senators (previously they had been selected by their state legislatures). We gave up our Republic and became a Democracy.
Democracy is merely another word for mob rule – three wolves and a sheep taking a vote on what they'll have for dinner. The restraints that kept the federal government small are gone. Now government has a very, very large stream of revenue – nearly limitless. And Senators have become glorified Congressmen who strove to bring the pork back to their state.
As if that was not enough, our wallets were finished off by the central bank created that same year – the Federal Reserve. Eventually this fractional reserve banking system would print money in ways the best counterfeiter would envy, destroying the purchasing power of the very dollar you had toiled to earn (inflation) so that the politicians could have even more money with which to "do good."
Peace and Tranquility were exchanged for the role of World's Policeman and the joys of Empire. America's entry into World War I helped make the 20th Century the bloodiest and deadliest in human history. Out of that war sprang Russian Communism and German National Socialism. And Russian Communism flourished with western assistance to the point that it spread throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central America. Between the wars and tyrannies, 100 million people would die at the hands of governments the world over.
And now the United States has become an Empire, spending billions of your tax dollars each year on foreign aid and hundreds of billions more on national defense. Yet we fear terrorists more than ever.
We sacrificed Enumerated Powers with a New Deal. Gone were the chains of the Constitution that bound down the federal State from entering every nook and cranny of our lives. The government now had the power to bankrupt you to provide for others' retirements, health care, education, housing, etc. Of course the politicians and bureaucrats would take their cut, and see to steering the contracts to their friends.
We surrendered our status to reform the system and lost our Representation. And it happened without a shot being fired. With the approval of the people and the sanction of the Supreme Court, the Campaign Finance Reform Act of 1971 became the law of the land. Heaped on top of that is the new Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The First Amendment rights of common citizens to associate, publish, or distribute criticism of incumbent office- holders without a government furnished license is effectively gone.
And now our Individual Liberty is being sold for the pottage of Security. The Justice Department and the newly created monster of Homeland Security is ushering in the day where citizens must carry the "mark of the beast" to engage in commerce and present their "papers" at government check-points in order to travel.
This is far from a complete list, and the causes that brought about the current state of affairs are more complicated than a 1,200 word column can convey. For my incompleteness, I beg your forgiveness.
The point is that if you fail to stop and ponder what made America vibrant, living, and unique – worth loving and celebrating – you'll miss the true value of this holiday.
Value of Remembrance
In 2003 my father died. Like our nation, his birthday was also in July. I'll celebrate it – remember his life and legacy – even though he's gone.
Like my father, America – the land of the free, home of the brave – is gone. I'll still celebrate July 4th. I might even shoot off some fireworks because my kids will enjoy it. But my thoughts will be focused on the life and legacy of a great nation and the means of building something new in its place.
It's unfortunate that our neighbors, family members, friends, co-workers, and others no longer believe in the things that made America great. Frankly, the inevitable parades and ceremonies that accompany this holiday are a bit much for me, and so you won't find me at one.
G.K. Chesterton once expressed his disapproval of Rudyard Kipling for his "lack of patriotism." Kipling was well-known for venerating the British Empire. Was this just another one of Chesterton's "paradoxes"?
No it was not, for Chesterton wrote, "He admires England, but he does not love her; for we admire things with reasons, but love them without reason. He admires England because she is strong, not because she is English."
Joseph Sobran offers his take on this Chesterton quote, "Of course Chesterton was right. You love your country as you love your mother — simply because it is yours, not because of its superiority to others, particularly superiority of power."
Today, the celebration will be about our war. Many will honor our troops and pray for their safety, content with the false notion that those brave men and women (and they are brave) are fighting for our freedom, when they are doing nothing of the sort.
The flag will be raised and many will salute or pledge allegiance to an ideal that bears little resemblance to the nation our founders gave us.
Should we love America because she is a great world power?
I agree with Chesterton. Those who are responsible for the destruction of American values – the Constitutional principles that made this nation a thing of beauty – may piously place their hands on their heart or give stirring speeches on patriotism, but they do not love America.
They don't even miss her.
But today, on her birthday, I will remember.
Today, I will think fondly of America's possibilities. I will hope that America reclaims its heritage. And I will pray that we stop "exporting democracy," but instead return to being that nation that serves as, "a shining city on a hill" – that, "lifts its lamp beside the golden door."
And I hope you will join me in my thoughts, my hopes, and my prayers.
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