Our Ideals

First and foremost this country was founded by people who wanted to live lives that were not particularly allowed in the old world.

Nothing is ever that simple and the various colonies and subsequent States each have many stories, but you didn't pack up and go on a long risky sea voyage because everything was fine.

Yes some came to get rich other to practice their religion and others just to be free and have a new start.

Once the colonies got well established they rejected the tyranny of the old world and demanded independence.

If you live in this country you need to keep in mind the words of our Declaration of Independence, even if at the time they might have been primarily talking about free white men.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

Over the years we have expanded the meaning to include all people and to secure these rights we have adopted the Bill of Rights to guarantee freedoms of speech, or religion, or assembly among others.

We are about to celebrate President's day and people may very well disagree about the current one, but President's are not the country, the people are.

As Americans we need to hold onto our ideals, and stand up for freedom and equality.

If we can agree on nothing else, we always have our founding ideals.

Our inalienable right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

The Nation's Soul

Politics for the most part used to be pretty simple, who was likely to make our lives better was the better choice.

This was primarily measured in economic terms since for the most part we agreed on some fundamental social policies.  Not everyone, but the mainstream believed in most of the same values, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Not universally but enough that we didn't see those values questioned openly.

A number of years ago, theories that used to be associated with fringe groups started going mainstream.

This coincided with the advent of cable and the internet, which allowed many more avenues for these theories to be publicized.

Whether it was simply an internal expansion or one fueled by external enemies trying to disrupt our society is something for the historians, but we started to see an us vs them set of values.

In fact one side was quick to argue that our values were under attack by forces and that "true" Americans had to stand up to those who wanted to destroy religion, patriotism, and ultimately America.

Many incidents, either real or imagined were highlighted to show how school prayer, gun rights, the Flag, and innocent unborn were under attack by mysterious forces.

Villains were identified, the liberal elite, the illegal immigrants, socialists, progressives and all those who didn't "fit" into their image of an American.

Our national soul was put in question.  As a nation of immigrants we once celebrated out differences, at least some of us did.  Now we started taking sides.

We need to restore our values and our national soul, however it doesn't seem like an easy task.  The first step would be to reject anyone promoting hate and an us vs them agenda.

All Americans and all people should enjoy our American values, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  How they do that is not cookie cutter, its what they want.

This Land Is Our Land

America belongs to all of us.

No one group or ethnicity or religion can claim it.

It is we the people, not some of the people, all of the people.

You may like everything about it, or you may want to improve it, but either way, its still your country.

I may find some of what you espouse to be despicable, but it doesn't change the fact that America is big enough for everyone.

You can't define what other people believe is best, although of course you, like them have the right to express your opinion.

So do they.

Changing polices or positions is a very American thing to do, we after all started out that way.

When you condemn someone's opinion as being un-American, you are wrong.

The Bill of Rights defines the right to free speech and freedom to assemble, not just the right to bear arms.

You can look it up if you want.

Who Gets to be Free?

One of the things about America is that everyone is free from having to conform to specific tenets.

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of thought are all part of our heritage.

We have had certain times when some freedoms were curtailed and we didn't always extend those freedoms to everyone (i.e. slavery) but we now have constitutional protection that require all to be treated equally, or do we?

We are seeing a number of movements that threaten our freedoms.

One of these, and one often condemned by the conservatives and libertarians is political correctness.  However, political correctness is not a Government policy, it is enforced by public opinion and while it may act like a bully forcing people to conform it is still not official.

We are now seeing a movement tied to the President of the United States trying to make America less diverse.

Admittedly much of his agenda is being challenged but it is in fact offensive that a public official even attempts to make everyone conform to some set of standards that restrict their freedom.

He clearly envision an America with white, Christian, people and if you don't fit that mold he would prefer that you leave, or at least stay quiet.

Everyone gets to be free, whatever your race or religion.  It shouldn't be up for debate.

Church and State

The idea that Church and State can be separated is a relatively unique one.  In fact it isn't all that prevalent in most of the world.

Om pretty much every ancient civilization they were one and the same.

In fact in most of those cultures, state functions were often religious functions, there just wasn't any difference.

If you think about it, the people who told you how to live and what to do had to work in unison or it would be chaotic.  In the middle ages the Protestant reformation was accompanied by savage wars as individual Kings and Princes decided what religion would be practiced in their state.  It was the exception rather than the rule when subject peoples were allowed to continue worshiping their own God or gods.

The persecution of non-conforming sects was one of the factors that led to people emigrating to America and because they were distinct colonies, each following a slightly different version of Christianity that we said no State religion would be created, it was needed to get acceptance.

It was unlikely that the founders were accepting of non-Christian religions, but the Constitution is and today we see our country as one of the few where so many religions are allowed to thrive.

We see a bit of a reaction currently as certain state practices violate or seem to violate certain religious beliefs.

There is some desire by those practicing evangelical religions to make the country righteous and tolerating what they consider sin is also a sin.

They exert some significant influence, especially in certain states as they can certainly influence who wins primaries, and sometimes general elections.

The freedom of religion, or in fact the freedom to not practice religion is something most of us cherish about this country.

Like all our rights, it is not guaranteed, we need to defend it and protect it.

Freedom is never free, each generation has to earn it.

Impositions

There are things in this country that I think should change.  Those changes are primarily to allow individuals to have more rights, despite their beliefs or past actions.

Some policies in this country restrict a persons rights without an offsetting public benefit.

However, there are some compelling public issues that require some infringement on an individual's rights.

Take infectious diseases.  If we have a safe method to prevent them it is the public interest to make everyone do it.   Its the price you pay to be part of society.  If you wish not to participate, take appropriate steps, but don't continue to be a health hazard when you don't have to be.

Similarly, a woman has the right to decide what she does with her own body, but at some point an unborn child has to be considered.  In some states we see legislation saying that once a fetus has a heartbeat, it gets some state protection.  Is that point meaningful in any definition of when a fetus turns into a person worthy of state protection?  Its not viable on its own.  Of course many anti abortion advocates argue that it is a person upon conception.  This is primarily a religious based argument and should have no place in a government discussion.  The idea that a women can be forced to do this would seem to make her less than a person.

I think when someone allows their religious beliefs to influence their positions on public policy they are on thin ice.  Imposing your beliefs on someone else is as wrong as them imposing their beliefs on you.  We saw a lot of scare campaigns about how our last president was going to impose Sharia law, which wasn't close to true.  Would that be any worse than someone imposing some Christian value system on everyone?  There are moral and social values that rise above individual religious beliefs.  believe what you want, but let everyone else do the same.

America, Land Of the Free

There are decisions that most of us believed were made long ago that are becoming relevant today about the nature of America.

The biggest of those questions concern the nature of the country.

Are we a diverse melting pot where everyone is treated equally without regard to race, religion, sex or are we a bastion of white, Christian, male privilege?

It almost seems ridiculous to ask but the second option is on the rise and is becoming insidious.

We see it in all these social media posts talking about the good old days as if we all grew up in Mayberry RFD.

Well we didn't and despite the warmth exhibited on the show, it would have been no picnic.

People of color or people who were different didn't fare too well in places like that.

They often didn't even do well in bigger cities.

We really have to decide what kind of country we want to be.

We are already on the road to diversity and inclusion and attempts to stop it are doomed in the long term.

They can be pretty harmful in the short term though.

Is everyone entitle to be free and pursue happiness, or just some people?

I vote for everyone.

Keep America Free!

The mess this country is in has been effectively orchestrated by people who either want to destroy us or who are so interested in profits that they don't care about the consequences.

We have people on popular "news" channels that spread disinformation and lies because it gets ratings.

We have foreign entities flooding us with misinformation to influence our elections and opinions.

We see attacks on our "mainstream" news organizations to sow distrust.

Items that we once recognized as absurd have now become part of the mainstream.

A significant number of us believe that the country is controlled by secret groups that for some reason are interested in destroying American values.

It might just be public opinion.

As Bob Dylan famously said, the "Times they are a-Changing" so if you believe everyone should revert back to some mythical time where everyone worshiped the same, looked the same, acted the same and oppressed the same, it isn't gonna happen.

The one thing that America represents is Freedom, and you can be free to believe what you want, but so is everyone else.

Sometimes Freedom is hard, and so many have sacrificed so much for it we need to carry that burden.

Freedom is the principle that this nation was founded on and its still our primary right.

For everyone to be free everyone has to respect the rights of others, even those who disagree with them.

Freedom for others doesn't diminish ours, it enhances it.

Lets keep America Free!

Freedom from Bigotry

There are people in America who espouse things that I totally detest.

Generally anything that would diminish or demean a fellow human.

It seems all too common for people to develop an us vs them mentality.

We like to belong to a group, just not all inclusive ones.

We see this now out in the open with the dontard referring to some immigrants as animals and other members of his cabinet saying they can't assimilate.

We have nothing but assimilated people here, unfortunately a certain number got assimilated into racist views.

Where a person is born and the wealth of their parents is not something any of us can control.

I get a kick our of those who talk about people needing to better themselves or climb out of poverty who then try to beat up on immigrants trying to do just that.

I was reading a story about a lawyer in New York who apparently took offense at some people talking Spanish and threatened to call ICE.  He is also apparently on record about how his tax dollars support undocumented immigrants on welfare, a very unlikely scenario.

New York has a large Hispanic population, including a very large number of Puerto Ricans who happen to be US Citizens.  The odds that two working people who speak Spanish are undocumented, is slim to say the least, at least in cosmopolitan New York.

What is this obsession with speaking English?

I grew up quite a while ago in a city where you could hear a dozen different languages and see a dozen or more newspapers in Chinese, Spanish, Yiddish, etc.

English was the common language but how people talked to each other was their concern, not mine.

It is simply the worst sort of bigotry to try to make people behave in a certain way as long as what they are doing is legal.

Try reading the Bill of Rights for a change.

First Amendment

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, or to petition for a governmental redress of grievances.

This list reflects things that the colonies felt King George III had tried to do to suppress them.

These are things that serve to enable people to form opinions that are not in accordance with the Government, express them and demand changes.

We now see a president who finds these freedoms problematic.  He would like to establish this as a Christian country, control the press and I'm sure crack down on anti-Government assemblies.

The ongoing cries of fake news when most f the fake news originates out of media outlets that support him is almost funny.

I wonder if he is really unaware that the majority of news reports in our major media are in fact properly sourced and reasonably accurate.

There is something wrong with an administration that decides either directly or indirectly to try to control the narrative by coercion. It is of course unlikely to succeed and in the official fake news twitter account it will be attributed to the "Deep State" opposition.

It is curious that people who get so riled up at any mention of controlling guns are fine with efforts to control the press.

I see a lot of rot printed, and it seems to me that much of it is actually pushing some of the absurd things that helped this administration get elected, like the "Deep State" or Clinton imaginary crimes or Obama's origin or in general the misrepresentation of the social progress being made in allowing each individual to pursue happiness in the manner they need to.

I find it atrocious at times but I don't want the Government deciding what is acceptable or not.

That would be much more dangerous.

Protect Freedom

The one thing a government needs to do is to protect its citizens from all threats, foreign and domestic.

This is enshrined in our constitution and in the oaths of office.

It is clear then that if a foreign power is trying to subvert our republic, every government official, including the president is oath bound to defend us.

So since we have conclusive evidence of such behavior we should have pretty universal condemnation and action to prevent and stop it.

It's not universal.

When you look at the history of colonization, you find a tactic that was used in many parts of the world with a lot of success.

You find a faction that is not quite strong enough to seize power and you help them in return for certain commitments.  This makes them to some extent your puppet and as your exclusive rights grow and your influence increases, the government becomes more and more dependent on your support to continue.

It is something that works for the puppet rulers and the colonial power, but not so much for the inhabitants who are deprived of economic and political freedom over time.

This attack on our freedoms is what is dangerous and it is being attacked by both foreign and domestic sources.  Business is often more interested in a puppet regime, it is simply easier to deal with, or bribe.

The people need to be aware of the danger and demand that our elected officials honor their pledge of office, or replace them.

Liberals vs Conservatives

One thing that is becoming more and more apparent is that it is far easier to stir up "conservatives" than it is "liberals".  I put those terms in quotes because the people I'm talking about while assuming those labels are sort of a new breed from the traditional groups.

At one time conservatives were know for people like William Buckley who brought an educated argument to the issues.  Whether you agreed with him or not, it was something that could be argued and discussed in a civilized fashion.  Similarly, liberals had their own champions who also argued based on facts and logic.

We have now entered an age where facts and logic have become irrelevant.  Now you see the most blatant lies spread by "news" sources without any consequences.  The lie are believed and spread and dominate our social media.

Even worse we have a president-elect who buys into these sources without question.

Now while both sides have their sites, the "conservative" or alt-right have tapped into an audience that is much more receptive to the lies being spread.  Most likely its because they are angrier about what they perceive to be the erosion of values and economic opportunity while the far left is home to less angry people.

It seems that in general the things that drive the alt-right stir stronger emotions and perhaps some of the advances made by the left have made them more complacent.

The fact that voting rights are being denied to many minority communities via restrictions similar to Jim Crow or that gerrymandering in the States have led to a republican majority in the House is just not as upsetting as the abortion or gun control issues.

The process is such that we have fact checkers who challenge these inaccuracies but the people I'm talking about aren't reading liberal crap.  The only news you can trust is from the very sources that spread these lies.

Liberals or progressives did show some passion during the Sanders campaign, but anger at the banks and the student debt weren't sufficient and didn't carry over to the general campaign.

I don't really know if there is a solution to this problem, it is likely to just get worse since it seems to be working.

Its scary when you see how these very things have cost other nations their freedoms.

Freedom of Speech

One of the things that Americans cherish is freedom of speech.  Now when I say we cherish it, we cherish the right to use it, but some of us don't like others to use it.

In a tweet, our minority president-elect noted that flag burning should be a crime and maybe should include loss of citizenship.

This is going to cheer on by many of his supporters who believe the flag is more important than civil liberties.

Now I am a firm believer that the flag should be treated with respect, but I also realize that it is a piece of cloth or an image widely used in non-patriotic ways, such as to sell products or as an article of clothing.

Now maybe these displays are acceptable, maybe not.  I've seen young ladies in flag bikinis which didn't offend me.  However, I doubt very much they observe flag etiquette when used that way.

Now if someone is protesting an American policy or behavior, burning the flag is a demonstration of that protest and has been determined to be part of free speech.  Whether you like it or not its covered by the constitution.

Now, if we decide to limit free speech that we don't like, the question becomes, do we have fee speech?

We have some restrictions right now on it, such as not being able to yell fire in a crowded theatre, but to decide that a symbolic protest gesture should be criminalized and further should result in the loss of citizenship is abhorrent.

It doesn't matter if you like what someone is saying, they generally have the right to say it.  The recent election demonstrated that telling lies and spreading false stories can be an effective political tool and as much as I would like to see that curtailed, the only American solution is to try to educate the public to see what is and isn't true.

If we start rounding up people we don't agree with, we have become un-American.