I'm wondering what in the world will help our country turn itself around and become who it is, a group of united states. You know, we used to say, "The United States are..." because we each functioned individually, and then had some things in common in which sometimes involved national government. But State's Rights were a big thing at one time.
Big government. Chesterton had a name for it, was it Hudge? or Gudge? The other one is Big Business. Together, they make an ugly pair.
Big government seems to be pretty out of control, this latest economic situation is only the visible sign of a sick body.
But what can be done? Here we have a prefect chance, with an election coming up, and very poor choices. We can't vote for Chesterton, although there are some places where the dead still get voted into office. What happened to Ron Paul? And even with that thought, we still have to go back to McCain and Obama, because no matter what we think of Ron Paul, either McCain or Obama is going to be our next president.
So, since we can dismiss both of them, let's talk about our states again. What can we do to convince good people to run for public office? What can we do to help good people to run for public office? Why does it seem that when good people become public servants (don't hear that term much anymore, either), they become corrupt? And maybe that's the reason good people don't run for public office.
The system is broken, and yet, here we are, we must live here and try to fix it.
What ways are you fighting Hudge and Gudge?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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How am I fighting? I question our country's current policies in my AP government class. A lot. And learn, read the Constitution, the Articles of Confederations, the Federalist Papers...
ReplyDeleteStart A GKC podcast! (I'm not and won't be; but its a good idea) Check out SQPN.com to see how Catholic podcasting has grown. http://sqpn.com/2008/09/19/catholicunder-the-hood-166-of-pirates-and-beer/
ReplyDeleteJust recently a very Chestertonian topic was presented on Catholic under the Hood.
I like much of what Ron Paul has to say but his affinity for conspiracies about how the current war got started just turns me off as childish. Otherwise, the rest of his message needs to get out.
I'll probably vote for Bob Barr the Libertarian. What a shame Ron Paul didn't get the recognition he deserved.
ReplyDeleteMaximillian keep teaching the Constitution! That is probably the most important thing any of us can do.
My dad (who is a big Ron Paul fan) doesn't like Bob Barr. I think that's because true libertarians, those who believe that government is only for police and defense, are wrong. I haven't decided about Bob Barr yet. My dad and I also believe all of those conspiracy things (If you want me to, I can post more about that).
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Ron Paul campaign reminded me a great deal of what Chesterton says about one of the five deaths of the Faith in "The Everlasting Man" : just when it looks like the Catholic Church is about to die because it is old and corrupt and because the older people despair for its fate, a younger generation gets all the old vivifying ideas all over again. Granted, the United States isn't the Roman Catholic Church, and Ron Paul isn't Peter the Hermit, but the similarity is still there.
There are many who say that the concept of states rights began to die with the Civil War. Some will take it back even as far as the ratification of the Constitution. But in between these two events the debate over states rights was a lively one, and the ninth and tenth amendments were often cited in arguments for states rights. Nowadays, these two amendments are hardly mentioned and few people can tell you what they mean.
ReplyDeleteThe Roe v. Wade decision is one of the more recent examples of the federal government sounding the death knell of states rights. People erroneously say that it “legalized” abortion. It did no such thing. Prior to that decision, abortion was legal and widely available in some states. Most states, however, severely limited the availability of abortion albeit to varying degrees. Roe v. Wade federalized the abortion question by making the state laws null and void if they interfered with a woman’s right to privacy. This is twisted logic to be sure, but that’s where it stands today.
Another good recent example is the medical marijuana laws passed in some states. Whatever your opinion on the goodness of these laws, they’ve been declared null and void without even a Supreme Court decision. The DEA and other federal law enforcement agencies have simply asserted their authority, and the state governments acquiesce rather then risk a legal showdown between the state and federal governments.
Hudge and Gudge get bigger and bigger with less and less accountability. Binding down both of these monsters with the chains of the Constitution was and continues to be the appeal of Ron Paul. While you could still write his name in on your ballot, I think this will have little (if any) effect. Most states seem to have voting laws that allow them to not even count these votes. A better way would be to join Ron Paul’s “Campaign for Liberty”, get involved in your local government, get and stay in contact with your congresscritter and hold their feet to the fire on the issues. This is actually happening with the current financial crisis. It seems a lot of people are contacting these same congresscritters and telling them NO bailout. Hudge and Gudge are responsible for this mess and people are waking up to the fact that the bipartisan “solution” is really no solution at all. It’s more of the same with Jones (you and me) bearing the cost.
Oh, the reason my dad didn't like Bob Barr was that he heard somewhere (he doesn't remember where or know if it is still true) that Bob Barr was not pro-life. This is definitely something worth looking into. There's a possibility, that Bob Barr's position might be that he would stop interfering in state laws on the subject, whether these laws were for or against abortion, but that he would still overturn Roe vs. Wade or something like that.
ReplyDeleteLook into the Constitution Party too. Ron Paul just threw his support behind their candidate.
ReplyDelete