Tom Kawczynski - Off the Record

As a historian, one thought that both amuses and frightens me is to imagine how the founders of this nation would be seen in the eyes of today's media.  It is humbling to think that they stood up, essentially, and said no more at the threat of such impositions as taxes on stamps, sugar, and tea, declaring that they would bond together in sacred honor to prevent these unjust impositions.  Our politicians and teachers celebrate that with the reverence only given those safely dead, but can you think for just a moment for what they might say today:

They would be seen as anarchic extremists, standing up against our beloved government (which has somehow become synonymous with our nation) who was only seeking to regulate us for our own protection.  Their threat of violence would be considered sociopathic, their political views odious, and I daresay, a majority of people would accuse them of trying to steal from them what the government freely gives.  We know that it really isn't free; it is either taken from somewhere else or simply made into creation at all our expense, but this is how the story would go.

It saddens me greatly to think of this.  The wonderful and truly exceptional thing about America is that as a nation of immigrants, our one shared heritage across the generations is that we all came here because we were running from something else.  Whatever the name of the system, we left a place where government did not allow opportunities within society and came here for the opportunity to forge our own destinies.  We were the frontier, whether it be farms in the west, or the Moon in the sky.  We were the bastion, standing for liberty and hope to all people.  We were proud and we were free.

Now, I don't know.  Truthfully, I'm not sure what Americans want.  I think it is entirely possible, maybe because we have been here too long and forgotten our own history, that people are embracing the idea of a state that cares for everything from cradle to grave.  I tend to believe most people who support this view do so with the very best of intentions, wanting to see people cared for in a way that I completely sympathize with, but at the cost and with the desire of allowing our government to determine what is acceptable, required, and will be enforced.

I am not a person who thinks or desires that we roll back the clock two hundred years.  People have come to expect the state to serve certain roles, and it would simply not be practicible to go back to the frontier land where anyone could do anything.  We have too many people who have been systematized for that.  But what we need to have is a conversation about what America will be in this young century.

We can choose to be a nation of liberty, of equality under law, of opportunity without undue intervention, and where rights and responsibilities come in equal measure; or we can choose to be a nation of security, where government protects us from ourselves and our neighbors, where we force economic equality, have set social goals, and where we have an ever expanding list of rights that become prescriptions to be followed.  My language is stark but warranted because as the founders well understood once you cede the authority to make decisions to the state, that is a power that will never be returned to the citizens.

Within those two very different frames, there is always room for discussion about policy about how we can realize those goals.  I am not someone who believes government is always bad; sometimes it helps people greatly.  But, I think we should always focus on the idea that we don't want people relying upon government, and we don't want government telling us what to do, what to think, or how to act.  We have it as a necessity to manage our relations with other nations, and with each other.  I would rather choose to trust we can find solutions to our problems together than have some governmental authority make those choices.

I have friends tell me I am an unrealistic idealist.  They may be right; but I guess it comes down to how you view human nature.  I know too many people who accept the idea that the only way we can successfully co-exist is through taking care of people who have chosen not to take care of themselves and who simply will not be able to do so.  Recognizing there are a few exceptions, I choose to believe that our nature is such that when given the chance to make more of ourselves, that is when we reveal the human genius and when we find a way to overcome, to build something stronger, and to work with one another.  Our nation could not exist if this was false, and it is in that view of humanity that I find hope.