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1/12/2009
Meyer: 'Government' used to mean self-regulation
Any number of conclusions may be deduced from Barack Obama's recent electoral victory, about the current ideological tenor of America.
One of them is that the average American sees the proper role of government as more invasive and comprehensive than past generations could have imagined.
The word "government" itself, has taken on a different meaning and emphasis than it did earlier in our country’s history. Noah Webster's original 1828 dictionary expressed the idea that the primary definition of "government" was internal regulation of one's self, rather than the current notion of an authoritative body, extraneous to the individual.
Indeed, the founders of this nation believed that the American concept of self-government was an experiment, since never before had a political body left so much regulatory power in the hands of the individual. The risk was that such latitude would be abused, resulting in external government reclaiming the autonomy delegated to the individual, thus devolving into tyranny.
The federal government is no longer limited to the duties and obligations as defined by the national Constitution. The government has become as indispensable to our survival and well being as the air we inhale and exhale. Thus we individual subjects lack self-sufficiency and have learned helplessness, from which we must be rescued.
We rely today on the government to provide what in past generations were the responsibilities or domain of family, friends, neighbors and The Almighty himself.
We have forfeited our God-given liberty – liberty maintained since our country's founding at a high price. And tragically, we have done so by our own consent. The blessings of liberty have indeed been exchanged for the hope of security.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin, February, 1775. Robert E. Meyer, Fox Valley
COMMENTS
Yes, Mr. Meyer, it is axiomatic:
The more responsible government is, the less responsible individuals will, or even can be. This I discovered at a relatively young age.
Ken Van Doren (Mon Jan 12 15:48:28 2009)
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