Self Evident, Truths

March 9, 2014 — 2 Comments

The Declaration of Independence is often quoted saying:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

• What then, is true about our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness?
• Have the tables turned on middle class and working class tax payers, or is poverty the new happiness?
• Does the government work as it is intended or is it off the rails?
• Where is the Creator and what can be done to get some clarity about these rights that are not distributed evenly?

I believe that our short-sighted system that rewards politicians for serving special interests of all kinds is dishonest.  Lobbyists and lawyers write the laws that favor their patrons.  Our lawmakers just pass them with little revision or thought.  This is not what the taxpayers intended when we paid our taxes.  I wrote both a senator and a congressman about serious issues in the last year. The senator has not responded at all.  The congressman never answered my concern but sent me an e-mail asking me to rate the quality of the help I had received from his office.  I replied that there had been none, so it was not applicable.  There has still been no response.  I give it an F.

Education is the way out of this hole in which we find American democracy.  It seems that the people who know who government works are abusing the systems, while the majority are not well served by the results.  iCivics is addressing the problem of a large undereducated population that does not participate in elections.  In the future we can hope educated people will make the bureaucracy responsive to all citizens.  Learning how the government is intended to work is the first step toward making it work.