Ask people what words best describe our Congressmen and other
political officials and many would say, "corrupt", "crook", "thief", for
just a few examples. Yet many of these people when faced with a challenge
of any kind turn first to the same corrupt, thieving crooks for
solutions to problems large and small. Meanwhile, history demonstrates that we
don't need government to come up with solutions to our problems.
Consider
how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came to pass. High school history
textbooks present the federal government as the hero that righted the
wrongs of Civil War reconstruction. But did the federal government
really lead the charge? How did the
Supreme Court act in defense of
American minorities? Famously, the Supreme Court formally legalized prejudice and
discrimination with its "separate but equal" ruling. The only reason
there's a Civil Rights Act of 1964 is because the American people
decided to take action and right the wrongs that government officials
had allowed to go on for a century.
Ordinary Americans devoted their
time and energy to solve the problem on their own. Once the groundswell
of energy was in motion, government finally reacted to the will of the
people - though not before violently fighting against this rightful
change. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 only put into law what the American
people had already demanded.
How about drunk driving laws? How
did they come to pass? Government officials paid very little attention
to drunk driving. In fact, there was an unwritten, unspoken acceptance
among government, the beverage industry and the automotive industry -
until a mom named Candace Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) when her 13-year old daughter was killed
by a drunk driver. Ms.
Lightner first presented the idea that drunk driving was a problem, then
created a groundswell of public support to put an end to drunk driving.
Once government officials recognized it as a popular issue, they
scrambled to get on board and pass a variety of laws against drunk
driving. This one, ordinary American began to solve the problem. Government
only reacted to what the American people had already demanded.
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| President Woodrow Wilson was among the many government officials who fought against allowing women to vote. |
And how
did women get the right to vote? Women's suffrage wasn't in the Constitution and
government officials did nothing to help women get the right to vote. In
New Jersey, in fact, women actually had the right to vote and in 1807, government officials took it away. It wasn't until the 1830's when women began entering the
workforce in greater numbers and recognized they deserved the right to
vote and started agitating and becoming vocal about voting that any real progress occurred. In 1848,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized a conference on womens' rights. It was
Stanton who persuaded Susan B. Anthony to get on board. They created the
groundswell of support. Then state government officials reacted by
passing laws. Yet the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote
didn't pass until 1920 and only overcame the resistance of government
because World War I necessitated the support of the many women who
joined the workforce during the war.
Clearly, it makes little
sense to look to or wait for government to solve our problems.
Unfortunately, many people in government prefer to exploit our problems
for their own benefit and their involvement often worsens a situation.
As people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Candace Lightner and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton have proven, the most effective solutions come
from us, from we, the people.
Today, many doctors across the country, for
example, have decided to offer their services on a
retainer basis
to survive post-Obamacare. In Missouri and Michigan, the government
responded to the will of the people by passing laws stating these
medical retainer agreements, which have proven to cut costs and promote
patient health, may continue unfettered by insurance regulations.
Disgusted by the
public school
system? Scores of ordinary Americans have started charter schools and
thousands upon thousands of others now homeschool their children. While
the public education system works hard to discredit and control this
traditional method of education, many government bodies and boards of
education have reacted to this movement by passing laws offering
educational flexibility that aim to keep these students - and the
funding they bring - in the system. Ready to push back against the rise
of the police state? Former U.S. Army paratrooper Stewart Rhodes founded
Oathkeepers
to defend the Constitution and prevent government officials from
destroying the freedoms that allowed America to grow and prosper.
Now, if the thieving, corrupt crooks in government would please just get out of our way, then we, the people are ready to prosper.
