"When the freedom they desired most was the freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free, and never was free again." Edith Hamilton
Be careful of this word "freedom". If you want freedom from responsibility you should know that there are those who are more than willing - in fact they are eager to embrace that which you cast off. And years later when your grandchildren become adults they will be docile followers of those who picked up what you left behind.
Today the world is full of docile people. They know that responsibility for their children's education rests with the school board; that the responsibility for hospitals and medical care rests with the health "authority"; that the responsibility for law and order rests with the police; (they're even cautioned, "don't get involved. Call the police.") they know that the responsibility for their country's economy rests with the central bank and they know that their relationship with the people of other countries rests with the government.
But slowly, painfully slowly for some, there is an awakening going on today. That awakening is the realization that all the above mentioned responsibility rests not with any authority; it rest squarely on the shoulders of the people. The people have elected and appointed servants, not sovereigns. Sovereignty's rightful place rests with the people; always with the people. The people forgot for awhile, but now memory's return journey has begun.
And with responsibility will come duty. Our duty to our self, to our family and our duty to each other.
Reminds me of a poem.
First They Came For
…By Reverend Martin Niemoeller…
In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and
I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because
I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up
because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn’t speak up
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one
left to speak for me.
Reverend Niemoeller, a German Lutheran pastor, was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau in 1938. The allied forces freed him in 1945.
Honest open and transparent government can only exist under the watchful eye of the people. That old adage, "when the cat's away the mice will play" is never more true than with a government without the scrutiny of the people and the accountability to the people.
We stand at a crossroad you and I. Let's wake up.
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Comments to the author are welcomed.
