The other day a friend and I were having a conversation(to protect the innocent, I’ll call him Steve). Somehow, the conversation drifted off into politics. During our political discussion Steve said to me “why do you even care about politics? Why even try to stop this stuff? There’s nothing you can do. You should just live your life and go with the flow.” I told him “that’s exactly why I care. I just want to live my life. I don’t want the government involved in every aspect of my life. Who are they to tell me how to live my life? Who are they to tell me what to do with my money? … I care because if everyone had this “give in” attitude we would already be living under tyranny.”
The thought of Steve’s “just give in because there’s nothing you can do about it” attitude has been swirling around in my head for a while now. It’s shameful that any American’s feel this way. It is infuriating that any man would prefer a life of uninterrupted subservience to government authority over one of turmoil in defense of their own rights and that of their descendant’s. Yet it seems that many American’s have this attitude. Our founding fathers recognized this unfortunate trait that many human beings possess. They recognized that people would often prefer to do nothing rather than stand in their own defense. They warned us against this attitude.
I have compiled a list of quotes from the founding fathers warning us against quietly submitting to the will of men in power:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
“Shame on the men who can court exemption from present trouble and expense at the price of their own posterity’s liberty!”
-Samuel Adams
“…it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?”
-Patrick Henry
“…all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
-The Declaration of Independence
“a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
-Thomas Paine, Common Sense
“Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence persecutor, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated, that the time for fixing every essential right on a legal basis is while our rulers are honest, and ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, will remain on us long, will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.”
-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the state of Virginia, Query 17
All of these quotes have particular significance in present day America. They exemplify our founding fathers’ predictions on the temperament of the people towards government rule. The founders’s predictions were true. The American federal government has become a centralized conglomerate involved in nearly every facet of American life. At every turn, the federal government is there waiting to regulate, take, and redistribute anything they can. For many Americans, centralized government intervention is all they have ever known. A great number of these individuals are so accustomed to this that it has, as Thomas Paine puts it, “a superficial appearance of being right.”
What so many people fail to recognize is that the federal government has no right to be so deeply entrenched in our personal lives. The level of power that the federal government now exercises over the people was never intended by our founders. The federal government is in place to defend our rights and uphold the constitution. They are not here to redistribute our wealth, indoctrinate our children, or create rights and entitlements through the use of perverse and unconstitutional legislation; Yet they do all of these things, and the American people tolerate it. From time to time the people will rise up in descent. Much like a tide the government may recede for a time, but the tide always rises again, eroding the shore line further and further.
If I could make a plea to the American people it would be this:
“Do not be complacent; complacency can only serve for you to live in blissful ignorance until the day you come to realize that you are no longer an individual, but rather just a number that is ordered to live in a way that complies with a centralized government’s policies and procedures.
Stand in defense of your liberties. Tyrants will not wait until you are ready to exercise their tyranny. It is not your right to defend freedom, it is your duty.
Be proud of your country. It is the last beacon of freedom amidst a rising sea of tyranny. If America falls, what hope of freedom does mankind have?”
I leave you with one last appropriate quote, not from our founders, but from Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crises maintain their neutrality…there comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
Well done Sean! You stand with some heavyweights, who seem to be reaching out for us to take a stand against tyranny.
One day the heavily addicted TV-People who need the Hollywood screen- to find themselves and fulfill their lives- will experience real life when they find themselves Serfs enslaved to their Slave-master government
I fight because I believe Slavery is Evil.
I can only hope TV-People will find an iota of courage to peel their eyeballs out from inside Jon Stewart’s comedy canal, wipe the crap off their face and see the enslavement they spend too much time ignoring. Before it is too late.
Hollywood’s entertained TV-People: entertainment-addicted idiot masses.
Sean
My favorite quote of those you have posted here is Thomas Jefferson’s. It amazes me how people today can be so flip about the prescience of great men like Jefferson, whose foresight should have been guiding this country still long after his death. Unfortunately, nowadays people only regard him primarily as a slave owner and secondarily as a founding father. My favorite Jefferson quote is thus:
Hence the reason for this great website and others of similar vein.
Great post, and it is worse than just giving in – it is WILLFUL ignorance of what is happening.
I once believed that most people wanted freedom just as I do. I have come to realize that there are an awful lot of people who really don’t like the idea of people being free.
I realized this after many conversations with friends and relatives. The solution to any problem is to forced people to do something they aren’t already doing, or stop them from doing something they are doing. Sometimes I have suggested that most problems would be much less serious if people were only free to make decisions and live with the consequences. That was always met with incredulity.
I think the most basic belief that contributes to this attitude is that people cannot be trusted, that they will act in a sinister way if not shackled. I don’t believe this but I admit that if I did I might have the same attitude.
It may take some grand display of naked aggression on the part of the Obama regime before the average American wakes up. Hopefully it won’t be too late.
My liberal friends seem to think everything is all right and that Washington is funtioning on their behalf. I consider it my duty to tell them the truth.
Hitler and Tojo would have loved living in these times. A whole world of Neville Chamberlins.
WELL DONE.
Especially the first quote. This part is beautiful.
“Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.”
Excellent post!
Expanding on the cost of complacency a little bit, take a look at http://www.butterdezillion.wordpress.com and follow the link at the bottom of the post to see some under-reported but very critical information.
I miss when the American attitude was “We can do it”. Back when anymore major catastrophe hit (disease, natural disaster etc) and the worlds outlook was “America will find the answer”. You’re totally right, our attitude is just give in. I blame the young and the stupid. Young, being the kids (up to 25 in age) they knew no great war or adversity and grew up untempered and weak along with there entitled attitude. Last great generation was the baby boomers. When there was a problem that threatened the country we were the last generation who would join the military willingly in masses.
Politics, sure… we will have demonstrations to save some retard in another country who deserves to die. I found ppl at a NY college having a walkout/demonstration to free Stanley “Tookie” Williams from execution. But we are almost unwilling to fight for our own rights.
We are Americans we dont “go with the flow”. We always stood against the grain. Best example or way i can put this is to quote Captain America
“Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world – “No, you move.”
* Amazing Spider-Man #537
Dark days are coming.
Half my friends are like the submissive people you describe in your article. They can’t understand why I get so angry and riled up when we discuss politics. These same people tell me there is nothing that can be done and they even refuse to vote stating their vote wouldn’t really matter. I tried for a year to get to them with logic and reason, nothing worked, until I got them mad or pushed them to the point of violence, its at this point that I tell them that they shouldn’t get mad or do anything since it doesnt matter. It seems to be working.
@John:
The liberals have, since the sixties, continually attempted to separate one’s actions from the resultant consequences, and they have been quite successful at it. Seldom do we see anyone suffer from the consequences of their chosen actions. That is, they are granted the “freedom” of choice, but shielded them any but positive consequences. There are too many examples to list, but think of: School grades. School discipline. Civil disobedience. Being a scofflaw. Vagrancy. Tagging. Minor drug violations. Minor assault.
More mortgage than you can afford? No problem, Uncle Sam will make those nasty lenders renegotiate or pay the difference with taxpayer monies. Accelerator sticks and you do not have the sense to put the vehicle in neutral? No sweat, your government shifts the blame to someone else. I am not saying the manufacturer should not be responsible for a design flaw, but the driver has a responsibility also to know what to do in an emergency situation. Think we should tell Sully that he should have not landed that plane on the Hudson, but rather called the manufacturer and expressed his distaste that the bird strikes occurred?
This includes the laughing up the sleeve when the Secretary of the Treasury violates the tax code, congressmen take campaign contributions from the very industries they are assigned to “regulate”, and President’s who used illicit drugs. We make laws (immigration laws for example) and then refuse to enforce them. The entire health care “crisis” is an attempt to further isolate the individual from the consequences of their actions. This makes a mockery of all laws.
No one has to take responsibility for their own actions. And once the individual discovers this attitude, there is no going back.
Nothing will change until citizens stand up and takes responsibility for their own actions in spite of being told my the liberals that we do not have to.
This is a real zinger, direct to the ugly truth, Sean. Congratulations on a great post.
Sean– Great post! To the question of how can one person effect the Government. Look at the election of 2000. We came so very close to having Al Gore as the President. I shudder to think of what his reaction to 9-11 would have been.
To go with the flow is to go right down the drain with the rest of the world. That is where we are all headed if we do not do something to stop it.
Amazing post, Sean – truly gave me something to think on. Sadly, I live in DC where everyone seems to think that their role in life is to rule the world or save the world, no matter how much of your freedom they have to take to do it.
Maybe one person is unlikely to make a difference, but collectively we can make our voices heard. If this horrific health care bill is defeated it is only because all of our individual voices got through to our leaders.
Sean, this is an excellent post. Very well done. The quotes are almost eerie, considering how long ago these incredible Americans lived. I however think that there are many of us, myself included, who have woken up & are coming out swinging. Just witness the Tea Party movement. And the incredible growth of conservative blogs & internet news sites. Now that I am awake I have become very annoying, I am sure, to my family and loved ones. I have to try not to alienate them while at the same time getting my point across. So I choose to see the glass half full, and to work on influencing others, one person at a time.
I have run into a very similar thing; so many people have told me, “Just give Obama a chance”
In the end it seems to come down to dissent Vs cynicism with the ppl. imo.
When it comes down to Nationalistic/Patriotic being American thing. Kids just weren’t raised to feel American anymore. They were raised thinking they are what there cultural background is and as such lost touch with the American communal spirit. It’s as I always said… America isn’t much in her own culture. We are a group of many cultures. But, we have one thing that stands us apart… Spirit… a communal spirit that when things went down we banded together and solved every problem set before us. Now we are so set apart we cant reach it anymore.
Excuse poor edict, smart phones and trains make for a bumpy write.
Nice post Sean! I can’t speak for your friend nor anyone else.
When I listened to Boortz, he hit it on the head. Its a sad commentary that more people are interested in who is winning/doing well on American Idol or what is happening on Survivor or Who Brad Pitt is dating than care what our government is doing to us.
None of those things truly matter. Yes, they entertain us. But if we can not make a change (or at least TRY to) in the government, then when the tyranny sits in, you probably won’t have those things to enjoy.
Whether you agree with it or not, the Tea Party movement is a good thing. It shows that people are trying to make a change and shows that their are more than just embers out there to get this fire going.
As busy as my life has been with doctors, therapist and a whole lot more important things, I have tried to set a side SOME time, to stay informed on current political events. As free time narrowed, I choose to weed out the lesser stories and stay focused on the important ones. I mailed representatives when I felt compelled to do so.
@kaz – “a communal spirit that when things went down we banded together and solved every problem set before us.”
And that is just it. Look how we were after 9-11. Why should it take something that big to bring us together? I get that serious events do that. But why don’t people see these political changes as a threat to their lives?
Learned helplessness perhaps?
Oh man, I feel like a complete jerk. I didn’t even know that this post was published. I just figured the post wasn’t good enough. I must have missed it. I’m so sorry for not responding to any of the comments. Thank you all for the complements. It truly is refreshing to see that there are so many of my fellow countrymen that feel the way I do.
I like posts like this because it’s like garlic to Liberal.
One reads the comments…
Notice the lack of any counterpoint…
But the real thing to take notice of, is the lack of agreement in any way, on their part.
They sit in silence, and in their silence there is shame.
@Sean:
Your post was also included in Lucianne.com’s favorite blogs or best of the blogs, whatever she calls it. Might want to check out what her members have had to say about it too.
Congratulations and thank you for sharing with us.
Just two days ago as I was leaving work I overheard a conversation about the current big issue. I had to stop and listen, and I was actually surprised by what I heard. They were discussing congress wanting to pass the bill by reconciliation, but the context was that they just heard it like it was just put out that that is the path congress was going to follow. These guys that I work with all vote anything but democrat, but the fact that they were so far behind in being informed is what surprised me. I joined in and asked if they knew about the “slaughter rule” being discussed. None had, so I went on to explain how it would work. Not one of them stopped me and asked if it was according to the Constitution. Again, that surprised me. It made me wonder just how much they actually knew about what Obamacare is really about. It made me think of this posting by Sean and his friend and how a big portion of the country feels about this whole issue. I was reminded of a quote I saw several years ago by John Adams.
@Missy:
I was wrong, this is your topic “Blogs that Lucianne Loves posted:
http://www.blogslucianneloves.com/Forum/?Thread=SETODDSBTG44957PM
@Missy: Thanks Missy!