A Nation of Lazy Lions?

On July 4th,1776, congress stated in the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States that the basis of their new government would be to protect the God-given rights (equally, to all men and women) to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We, as Americans, have heard this a million times throughout our lifetimes especially around the fourth of July. And yet today, 5 days before the most important of elections, the people are divided in their politics and are very bitter toward those who do not have the same leanings as themselves. Even the presidential candidates are silently gashing each other's armors. Yes, we see them smile and hug each other in front of the TV cameras after the debates, but underneath in the recesses of their minds, you know they are jousting on their high horses. One thinks the other will bring about the collapse of the country and vice versa.

And in all reality, one candidate will and one won't, but which one? To answer this we have to ask the question:

What is the stability of our country, our union of individual states, actually based on? How does the government facilitate what we need in order to survive, be free, and be happy? But stop right there.

The fact is, we ARE an Independent, free and basically happy people! What the founders of this nation set forth originally for its citizens has worked extremely well. To put it all into perspective, we need to have an attitude of thankfulness. Everyday we wake up to another day of breathing the free air of independence! No one is telling us what to do. We do not have a king demanding anything. We wake up to our own lives. Our own thoughts. Our own wills to guide. We are kings of our own selves. What a gift. I will say it again. What a gift.

Not only do we have the freedom to govern our own lives, we have the power to survive. And survival does take power. Human survival takes strength, courage, determination, foresight, planning, the sophistication of culture and education, common sense, and street smarts. Consider the lion in the zoo. He is not free, he is not independent, he is not happy. You will see him lolling about, yawning. He has nothing to hunt, and not even a need to. The zoo keeper will bring him his slab of cow muscle. He did not have to stalk it with the stealthy power nature gave him. He did not have to bite down fiercely with his supremely pointed teeth into its neck. He did not have to wait patiently for its heart to stop beating. He did not have to rip off the skin, or tear the ligaments from the bones with its strong neck muscles. He just has to lay out where the all the visitors can catch a glimpse of this once kingly specimen of the jungle. He is, however, the most pathetic of all the sights at the zoo. It is enough to make one cry.

We as humans, also, do not want bars around us or slabs of meat handed to us. We want the power to utilize what talents nature has given us in order to survive. There is joy in utilizing our talents. There is joy in surviving the way nature intended us to survive. We love using our wits, taking on challenges, assisting others, fitting in, contributing to leaders, or leading those who need our guidance. We fit in individually, because we are social beings, we humans. Like ants, we work together. We network, we all contribute the the success of the whole, in individual and unique ways. And no one but our own selves knows the best way to fit in.

Let us look at the definition of Independence. It is the opposite of dependence.

Q. What contributes to the condition of dependence?

A. Being taken care of. So, mom and dad took care of you until you started to rebel when you discovered your own will at age 15. You left home with your backpack loaded with essentials a couple of times. But, each time you discovered that what you packed in your backpack wasn't enough. So with your virtual tail between your legs you went home to your warm bed and warm microwaved dinners that mom never got around to heating up for you.( But it was easy and tasty enough for you...) So, you put up with THEM, those jailer caretakers, until you were 18. Then you tried to rent a room with a bunch of other people...some of them were girls... and you discovered what slobs they really were, so you returned home once again with the virtual tail, you know where. You wisely enrolled in a trade school, and Mom and Dad paid for it, but you had to live at home to get them to pay for your education, and you put up with it until you graduated with a certificate in welding. Thank God for that. With your certificate in hand you were finally able to get out of there. And you did. You found a welding job that paid really well requiring all the the skills you had developed in school. You found a cheap apartment and started your own life. And Finally You Were Happy.

Now, let's get back to the issue at hand:

Which candidate will lead the country to collapse? The one that does not care about the country's robust strength. The one that ignores the vital requirements for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness The one that leads first the citizens, then the leaders and finally the federal government into a state of weakness and corruption. Remember, what is good for the people is good for the nation. What is bad for the people is bad for the nation. Whichever candidate does not understand how to protect life liberty and the pursuit of happiness of its people will be the one to drop the ball. The goal is to maintain these rights for its people, therefore itself. Which candidate do I think will fumble the ball and cause the country to lose its ability to protect and maintain the equality of rights called for from the very beginning?

Well, stop right there. Somehow the framers of our governmental system comprehended that these rights are inalienable. These rights are natural and universal. Every person has a sense of their natural right to exist, and to be in a state of freedom and happiness. Freedom is for the sake of some good. What is it? It is a commonly accepted philosophical principle that the highest good is that which is for the sake of itself and something else. I believe it is the freedom to work for one's own advantage and good which benefits not only the individual but the collective body of citizens within the family, community, city and nation. (Trickling up if you will.) And why do we have these rights? Because Our Creator knew it would be Good for us. Scratch that.. He knew it would be VITAL for us. Furthermore, He knew that if he did not give us these rights, He might as well leave us on the shelf in the box with the sign, "Do not activate! "

The Constitution was needed to "form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, ( wikipedia defines welfare as "well-being, health, comfort, security, safety, protection, prosperity, success, good fortune, interest, and good" in general...I do not believe the federal government was meant to be a charity.) and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves..." In short, to prevent the collapse of the country from within. It needed the states to come together for the purpose of a strong robust nation of people possessing the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The citizens within the country had to be supported by a strong Nation. To lose sight of justice, tranquility, defense capabilities and the general well-being of the country is to lose sight of what makes it strong.

The candidate who knows not how to maintain the strength of the nation, who knowingly or unknowing promotes the weakness of the nation is the one that will lead the nation to collapse. He will promote the loss of everything which brings forth the Life of the people. In short, he will promote that which brings forth the death of the people. He will not contribute toward lively and percolating economic growth and expansion, but rather the destruction of it. And those who loose all, and have nothing more to loose, will spiral toward corruption. The rise of gang warfare and drug use in this country are evidence of the spirals toward corruption that begins with educational and economic failure. The candidate who is willing and knowledgeable enough to guarantee the success of the nation and protect it from destructive forces from both within and without will be the candidate to vote for.

I predict that we will be learning some hard lessons from the school of hard knocks that could last eight more years. By 2020, I hope there will still be enough time to restore what was meant to endure. The framers did "ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America" for not only themselves, but posterity." That's us. Will it include our children? Time will tell. But, I am worried. Our morals, common sense and spiritual inclinations, along with physical and mental health is being attacked through media and technology. TV shows, commercials, the newspaper, the internet and political agendas are now stepping up a seemingly concerted effort to spread lies and misinformation. It is nothing less than an abuse of freedom of speech. What is the force behind it? We need to know.

However, I will stay peaceful, as that is what each of us must do. In this way we can all contribute toward a peaceful nation. I am warning everyone right now in this hub, that I am seeing a lot of strange developments going on in our world. I am perceiving an awesome tide that will test our collective sense of reality. To fight this tide we must stay in touch with reality feedback within us and set the example for our children. My advice? Don't get too crazy! Or to put it in a positive way: Whatever you do and whatever happens, keep your sanity!