Volume 5, Issue 29
This point in our history was a culmination of intensifying skirmishes, protests and rebellion, one building upon another. Why? Because the order in place, no matter how inefficient, unfair, or unsustainable, could not be reformed, amended, or reconstituted without fundamental restructuring. Certain elements of society had become too dependent upon defined protocol to yield to compromise. Normal channels of government petition and political bargaining continued to fail.
The colonists’ frustration had led to a moment of reality reaction.
Citizens realized that change would only come through dramatic action. They had moved in their emotions from denial of obvious facts to the acceptance of reality in its resulting circumstances. The curtain of denial had been drawn open wide. Anger was the new emotion. Their action reflected their commitment to new principles of truth.
Dysfunctional Government Today
In and by the gridlock now manifested in our federal government, history is repeating itself. Health care is approaching crisis in our country. Obamacare in its present form is failing and approaching collapse. There is no dispute that it must be amended or it will fail to meet the health care needs of America’s poor. The Republican-controlled Senate has been unable to find compromise for legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. Left to its own means, the current system will result in more and more insurance companies withdrawing from the marketplace. States will be left with few options to provide primary and critical health care services. Costs are spiraling out of control and, as in 1775, certain elements of society have become too dependent upon defined protocol to yield to compromise.
Letting the current system collapse does not change the equation for reform. The disparate needs will remain the same. The aftermath of negligent inaction could result in a single payer system. History reveals that nationalization of health care reduces services, increases delays for medical access, and increases costs.
Upon such an occurrence, the light of reality will pierce the curtain of denial. The American public will become angrier and enter into an even more aggravated state of acrimony. No element of society will be satisfied. What we do as a country to deal with the reality of a dilemma that cannot be course-corrected by traditional government process will dictate our future as a democracy. Dire warning? History has presented these situations before.
In 1776 and 1789, through our ancestors’ Declaration of Independence and passage into law of the United States Constitution, citizens established the Great American Experiment and pushed the reset button on the prevailing world order.
In 2017, we find ourselves at a recrudesce point where the reset button of the original American experiment must once again be addressed.
Our Founding Mothers and Fathers redefined for the ages Principle, Purpose and Process for not only democracy, but peoples in general. Principles stated that all rights are unalienable, granted by a Creator. Man is sovereign over government and government is subservient to citizens’ dictates. Purpose encompassed both government and citizen. Government’s purpose was to protect freedom and provide for the general welfare with the acquiescence and authority of the governed. Citizens were to strive to provide for themselves through their own initiative. And further, they were to give back to others, for the good of society, more than they received. The process was simply defined as limited federal government recognizing individual and states’ rights. And further, government had an obligation to facilitate an individual’s pursuit of happiness, as a person saw fit. This simple process was to be orchestrated, always maintaining and protecting inviolate the due process of individual rights.
In 1975, then-Governor Ronald Reagan appeared on The Johnny Carson Show. When asked about the size and purpose of government, Reagan responded, “People keep looking to government for the answer and government is the problem…There’s very little government can do as efficiently and economically as the people can do for themselves.” How similar the national debate is today.
We as a society must be careful not to wander from the path of our defined citizen purpose. We must be vigilant in embracing the navigational compass bequeathed to us by the Founding Fathers.
Health care will be dramatically changed, one way or another. It will happen. It is unsustainable monetarily in its current structure. It will collapse into single payer, or it will be reduced to an inadequate provider. Neither option is acceptable. A reset will occur. The only thing yet to be determined is – will we leave the reset to uncontrolled and unmanaged circumstances or will we control the reset by adhering, reestablishing and recommitting to a reset of proven principles?
Citizen Character
It starts with citizen character. Here are a few suggestions. As a nation, we should codify into law that every child will earn a high school diploma or a vocational-technical equivalent. No exceptions, no dropouts. There will be all sorts of categories of waivers and special needs. But no different from our commitment today that a child will at least reach the eighth grade, we extend the commitment that all children will receive a high school diploma.
Every citizen of the United States should volunteer two years to their country. All military personnel of course will have met their obligation. I would add that police, fire fighters, first responders and classroom teachers are also exempt by the service they already provide. All the rest of us should volunteer two years. It can be during college. It can be over a lifetime. It doesn’t have to be structured. It doesn’t have to be monitored. We should each commit to it individually for the reward and gift of the God-given grace of being an American citizen.
It may take a generation to phase in such a new cultural commitment to our national identity. But some effects could be immediate. Cities could benefit from professional volunteer services from a multitude of disciplines.
Subjecting students to such a curriculum early in life might, in fact, dissuade gang and anti-American activity in young adulthood. Further, it could contribute to respect of authority in the school system.
Early in our country’s history, citizens knew that there was a price for freedom. They were committed to the fact that government services were expected only to support a person’s right to achieve goals and prosperity through their own individual effort. Government benefits were never an entitlement or an expectation. A right was God-given and owned by the individual. Government existed to protect these inherited rights.
Government services at times are critical for a prosperous and stable society. But instilling the concept of a citizen’s responsibility to contribute to the good of that society’s prosperity is essential to the character of the generations.
The dawn of a new citizen reality reaction has arrived. A reset will, in fact, result. May it be an American reset reborn through the commitment and sacrifice of reliance on our founding principles and identity.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?