Accountability+Self Responsibilty= Individual Liberties pt 1

Today I awoke and my thoughts turned towards something that has been upon my mind as of late, the slow glacial movement towards restrictions upon individual liberties. Before you rise up in protest, I am not touting any specific ideologies or blowing "dog whistles." I mean to discuss what I see as a growing willingness to trade away the freedoms I fought to defend for a false sense of security. We should first visit the ideals that gave birth to our unique system and beliefs, the enlightenment.

We owe much of our philosophical reasoning as a nation to the works of a collective group of thinkers in 17th century Europe. At this time we began to see the rise of the ideals that "man" or humanity was capable of self determination and this was our greatest claim to divinity.  We have been inculcated since our birth as a nation that the rights of the individual are paramount. Yet we allow this to be restricted, the natural question to ask is why? If we are based upon the foundation of the individual is the central figure in our worldview.

There is always a conflict between the individual and the larger society from which we come. The needs of many can and sometimes do supersede the natural rights of the individual. But we draw our greatest strength as a people from those rights of the individual.  It was durning  the 11 year period of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the United States Constiution in 1789 . Yet the document was not ratified until the Bill of Rights was penned and thus a physical manifestation of the rights of the individual. Thus strengthening those precious rights of the individual against the "Tyranny of the Majority" as highlighted in the Federalist Papers.
 (See http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm for more information)

The citizens of the United States have long benefited from this emphasis upon the rights of the individual. The bill of rights is a lynch pin of those individual liberties, without them we would be at the mercies of a strong central government and the whims of a majority. Before you say well doesn't the larger group deserve more protection, I ask you to think of something. If we were to remove all aspects of the rights of the individual. We then lose those protections that prevent domination and subjugation of the minorities of any category.

The loss of those protections would permit and signal destruction of our beloved nation. Before we permit any loss or restrictions to be placed upon our individual rights. Please think for yourselves of what you are truly giving away...because the minority that will be oppressed could be you and your family.

A request of my fellow citizens of the United States...

Dear fellow citizen(s),

We once again find ourselves at yet another junction, faced with the responsibility that our Federal Republic demands of us. I am speaking upon our duty to be active participants in our political process. Ask anyone whom has known me for any length of time and they will acknowledge my utterances of the following statement, "We get the leadership we don't demand and hold accountable."  Regardless of one's individual views or ideological leanings our country demands much of us in ensuring its perpetuation as an entity, a culture, a society and most of all our heritage.

We will find ourselves in a growing deluge of mass-media bombardment 24-7, this is less of a shock to us anymore as we find ourselves constantly besiged by information. It is this endless stream of words, ideas, soundbites, and the neon glow of our electronically tethered society that we must remember a simple yet profound idea. We must be able to critically think for ourselves and to question everything that is fed to us via our endless stream of information.  Also equally important is understanding how to research your own information in order to verify a statement, idea, utterance,  or any item that is presented to you for your mental consumption.

I implore all of us to think for ourselves, to question everything, to only give our trust to those whom have earned it through facts, logic, and honest dialogue. DO NOT buy into the demagoguery of the modern political machines that orbit our conciousnes like vultures do over a dying animal in the Sonoran Desert I call home. To vote mindlessly for any party or candidate is in my humble opinion no different than a soldier falling asleep on guard duty, it is a betrayal of trust to oneself, as well as your fellow citizens. We place sacred trust in those whom we elect to public office to represent us to the best of their abilities and human limitations.

I do not endorse any particular ideology or political thought as I said above I prefer to think critically for myself. We have a duty to educate ourselves on what our government does in our names. For it is WE THE PEOPLE whom have given our collective power to our political institutions and represenatives to exercise upon our behalf.  I challenge anyone whom reads this blog to ask hard questions, to think critically, and most of all to be well-informed citizens ready to be actively involved in our Nation's doings.

Our initial journey into the void of blog space:

Well having been convinced by a friend of mine and thinking upon this journey deeply I have take my first steps into a much larger world.  This blog will be a focal point for many things in my life. It will contain fiction, non-fiction, history, philosophy, politics, and anything else that prompts me to write my thoughts down. To anyone whom reads this blog ro comments upon a post I ask you to keep in mind the following maxim that I have always lived my life by...

"Sir I may not agree with what you say but I will defend unto the death your right to say it."- Voltaire