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Fourth is more than hot dogs, fireworks
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July 4, 1776. On this date, we became “We the People.” Thirteen colonies declared their independence from England, becoming the United States of America; and it is the only country to be organized where the people are in charge, not the government. The people of this country do not answer to a king, emperor or emir.
The Constitution was designed to limit and restrain the new government, and it gave this government limited powers.
Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “That government governs best that governs least.” Thomas Jefferson echoed Thoreau’s sentiment.
Since our government started, we the people have done little to control and limit this government’s power. It has become too prevalent and now is running our lives instead of us managing the government.
The founding fathers gave the federal government only 17 limited rights, yet today we see a government that no longer is a government for the people, but a government that has become master of the people.
America now is celebrating 235 years and, like many great nations, we run the risk of complacency. Looking back into history, we can see that many countries grew and became wealthy. Because of this wealth, they often become complacent.
After World War II, we became a wealthy nation, and because of that, we became content. We allowed our government to start taking control of our lives, little by little.
The American people became so obsessed with growing personal wealth that they became unconcerned and failed to rein in the power-hungry politicians.
Slowly, the members of Congress took advantage of the peoples’ apathy and started to institute social programs that were designed to make the people dependent on the government instead of the peoples’ own abilities.
Our government has taken us from the limited rights of the original government to dependence, to bondage. We cannot do anything without the permission of the government.
What originally were “rights” now have become “privileges.” The federal government has taken over our lives. This is best seen by the Health Care Reform Bill, which reforms nothing, but takes away our rights. The fact that our government passed this bill in the dark of the night without any consideration of the wishes of the American people proves that we now have a government out of control.
When a government attempts to tell businesses where they can open factories, like they are attempting to do with Boeing, we must ask ourselves, “Is this the kind of government that our Founding Fathers envisioned, and do we want such a government?”
In the Declaration of Independence, it states, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” It goes on to declare that each man has natural rights that emanate from God.
And where is God in a country founded under God? We not only have a failed government, but we have a godless government.
Has anyone noticed that since prayer was removed from the schools and God removed from our public buildings, we are on a slippery slope to collapse and a country that might not exist for our grandchildren, and we are sliding down that slope at an accelerated speed?
We need another revolution in America. Not the shooting kind, but one in which “We the People” take back our country from the despots in government and re-establish the Constitution that worked so well for 235 years.

Calderone is a conservative who lives in Midway. He is a professional salesperson and for 30 years has written articles for trade publications in various fields.

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