Equal does not mean same

"The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens." -A. de Tocqueville. When he was just 25 years of age, Alexis de Tocqueville came to America from France. He came here under the pretense that he was to observe the penal system. In reality, he had to escape France. He had ticked off the powers that be and that was a dangerous place to be in nineteenth century France. I must admit that Tocqueville has always been a romantic figure for me. Partially because of what he wrote and his exquisite power of observation, but it is mostly due to who he was and where he came from. In my mind, if he had not been able to escape France, he would have been one of those heroic figures on the barricade that Hugo describes so powerfully in "Les Miserables" for his political leanings would have been in line with those rebels. But escape he did and he and a buddy took a field trip to America. They did take a perfunctory look at our penal system but they observed the life in post Revolutionary War America much more closely and he came away with some powerful insight on what caused America to succeed in a revolution when France failed and why he thought that America would continue to prosper. One of the most powerful things that he came away with was his understanding of equality. He once wrote, "Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will supply you with a republic." He also stated, "It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor; as such differences become less, it grows feeble; and when they disappear, it will vanish too." These are complimentary, not contradictory statements. America was and still should be an honorable republic and Tocqueville knew it and he also predicted the loss of such a treasure. You see, he defined equality as having equal value. To his view the American woman had far more equality than had ever been enjoyed by women before and felt that they would only continue to grow if we retained that sense of equal value. But he warned us in the second statement that I quoted to begin this paragraph that if we try to make equal mean the same rather than of equal value then honor would vanish and so would a republic. In the first quotation he is referencing the mindset that he saw in America where each son was of equal value to a family and each son could receive an equal opportunity and inheritance. He did not say that each son must be exactly the same, that he saw as a problem that would destroy honor. His definition of equality is powerful and empowering and allows for the most freedom possible. You see, Tocqueville understood what would be our biggest downfall as Americans, thus the statement, "Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom." He could see that we were already moving towards viewing equality incorrectly. Tocqueville warned us about the dangers of equating equal to sameness. And his warnings were justified. We reached a point in our society when women and then others began to demand sameness rather than equal value. Our society has been working towards sameness ever since and now honor has vanished. We are eliminating the very thing that made us great. We are selling out our value to be the same and I can think of no greater tragedy. Think about what I have written here. Think about your value and your dissimilarities and inequalities that make you something worth honoring. And then fight for THAT, not to be the same.

Only in America

For my birthday I got the book "11/22/63" by Stephen King from a good friend. I am loving this book. As my friend Andy pointed out, it is continually amazing that Mr. King could write something so fresh and gravitating after writing so many books over the years. But that is not really what I intend to write about... This book deals with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It deals more precisely with Lee Harvey Oswald. This caused me to do some research and something struck me hard tonight in my studies. It has to do with Marina Oswald Porter. In my studies, she is rapidly becoming one of my heroes. But only in America could that be the case. This woman was the wife of Kennedy's killer, and she was a Russian woman who spoke little English in a country that was barely past the red scare of the 50's. And yet, she was protected (yes, I realize that this was mostly for her testimony) and her voice was heard and she was not persecuted, she was released to live her life. And live her life she did. She found a good man and remarried and raised her two daughters and a son to be good, productive people. I do not believe that the wife of the assassin of a beloved leader would have had such opportunities in any other nation. She did not get a wholly free ride, she was watched for many years, but she was essentially allowed to live her life and became a naturalized American citizen. The question must be asked, is that America still available today? What do you think? I would like to get some feedback and then I will write a follow-up post.

Article VI, Paragraph 3 of the US Constitution includes these words, "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

I am sick and tired of hearing about religion as we get deeper into this election process. I have been sick and tired of it in past elections as well, but this time it is especially virulent. Patrick Henry stated the following:

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."

Patrick Henry and I do not always see eye to eye, but on this one, I agree with him wholly. This nation was founded upon certain very basic freedoms and upon Natural Law and if you have even a small bit of understanding of this (and all Americans should) then you realize that we need to work to uphold and sustain these freedoms and laws and stop choosing to define people, leaders and candidates in a manner contrary to the Constitutional foundations we cherish.

Foundations

I recently participated,as an observer, in a panel discussion of the book "Beyond Capitalism & Socialism", edited by Tobias J. Lanz. I was intrigued by both the book and the discussion. But the book, admittedly, frustrated me because it espoused a lot of grand ideas, but gave very little in the way of concrete application. However, some panelists in the discussion offered some terrific solid ideas on how to approach applying the Distributist movement in the day to day world. I was particularly engaged by something that Dr. Shanon Brooks offered. I was not surprised by this offering. Dr. Brooks, whether he realizes it or not, has truly become a mentor for me in some personal goals in my life as well as on a more broad scale. He offered "Seven Steps to Engaging Free Enterprise". I will not be listing those seven steps here. But anyone who reads this should read about them. They can be found in an article located at...http://shanonbrooks.com/. Please visit this link, I apologize that you must cut and paste the address. Blogspot can be so stupid.

Anyway...one of Dr. Brooks seven steps really struck with me and as a result of considering this, I had a powerful epiphany and I have subsequently been chewing on it all day. It is number six on his list, "Develop a Family Foundation". I intend to talk to Dr. Brooks about just what this means to him, at some point, but right now I am having a powerful time defining this for myself. The first thing that popped into my head as I was considering the word foundation was a line from the Declaration of Independence. "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such a form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." THAT is what I want in my family structure. THAT bolded portion from the Declaration is exactly what my family needs. And we are going to have to both alter and abolish some of our previous Forms in order to achieve Safety and Happiness in our little organization.

Now I am on fire with ideas on what changes need to be made so that we can have a true Family Foundation. It must begin with a restructuring of power, our situation warrants that adjustment. I have been fighting this alteration up until the moment when I read those words, penned by Jefferson, because I was frightened and frustrated and frankly angry about the need for this change. But, today, while the fear is still not erased, it is contained and I am ready to move forward and lay the adjusted foundation that my family needs in order to move forward in Safety and Happiness for ALL involved.

Do not try to tell me that documents like the Declaration are dead or passe. Do not try and tell me that gathering and talking issues out is ineffective and nonproductive. Granted, we cannot simply read these documents, declare them good, and walk away nor can we simply gather and talk and exchange ideas and then get in our cars and simply return to our same lives. We must engage. It is not a small thing that Dr. Brooks list uses the term "Engaging Free Enterprise". And frankly, unlike some on that panel that I observed, Dr. Brooks is not just talking, he is doing and he is beginning his doing right in his own backyard and then branching out from there to others who will listen. It is time for me to do. I do so love the talk and the discussion and the exchange of ideas. But I can truly say, tonight, that I am ready to engage. I am ready to implement. I am ready to lay a foundation.

Anyone care to join me??!!

Feeling safe - Amendment 2

The following words appear in the Declaration of the Continental Congress, "Men trained in arms from their infancy, and animated by the love of liberty, will afford neither a cheap or easy conquest." I have been thinking of this a great deal the past few days. Twenty-five years ago, a madman and his wife took the children in my hometown elementary school hostage which eventually led to an explosion. The two perpetrators chose not to survive the episode, which was a relief in so many ways, but I would have been surprised if they had have survived anyway. In the aftermath of this nightmare, my grandpa took me on a walk in the area around the school and showed me where he and the other men in town had placed themselves, all armed with their rifles. There was so much comfort in this for me. I was so grateful that things had worked out the way they had and my cousins and friends who were in that school were all safe, but there was something so reassuring and sustaining in the thought of those people, armed and prepared outside of that building. In discussions with some of my friends who see things differently than I do, the argument has been made that perhaps the children were in more danger because of all of these guns pointed in their direction. When I hear this argument, I hearken back to those words from Declaration, "trained in arms from their infancy". I know that every person who wielded a rifle that day were indeed so trained and they understood the rifle to be a tool and understood the proper use of that tool. I am so grateful to have been raised with the kind of safety that I knew because all of my grandparents and my parents, aunts and uncles could use these tools to keep me safe and protected, whether from a human threat or even the occasional rabid badger...but that is another story. I feel that it is my responsibility to raise my children with the same sense of safety and protection and to also train them to offer the same to their children.

Solemn

I titled this post "solemn" because that is the best word that I can find to describe my emotions today. Now understand that this date is a difficult one for me, due to some personal tragedies, and that is undoubtedly affecting my emotions. But I have learned, over the past five years to do two things, embrace my emotions and to write out my thoughts. So...read on if you want, but I need to get what is churning in my brain down on paper. You have been warned.

I am thrilled that Osama bin Laden is dead. I cheered and pulled my car over and said a prayer of thanks last night as the news broke. And I am grateful for the military and the intelligence personnel who have worked tirelessly to bring us to this point. I am also grateful for the opportunity for the American people to rally and to cheer in the streets. That being said, this also brings on a great deal of thought and pondering and introspection. In my lifetime I have only seen the people of America come together and bond on a handful of occasions. As I sit here contemplating today, I realize that all of these occasions involved death. There is nothing wrong with this, I know, better than many, the need to come together in times of tragedy. But I also yearn to see the American people come together and be engaged in positive and thoughtful excitement over our nation's past and future. I would love to see a measured and balanced engagement, in large numbers of people, about the miracle that is the United States and how to keep the miracle alive and thriving. But I do not see this. I see a nation who is in danger of being manipulated by emotion good and bad, and yes, this worries me.

Yes, we absolutely should be taking to the streets in an ELEGANT display of relief. I am all for that, we should show the world how to honor and celebrate those who choose to put their lives on the line for this nation. But I do think that we should keep it dignified and controlled, for the world is watching. I am filled with pride over the fact that I am privileged to know a number of great military service people, past and present and relish the opportunity to thank them, every chance I get. I pray that we keep thanking them, far beyond today.

I love the excitement and the energy that is present today and I am going to ride it and absorb as much as I can. And I will say prayers that the sense of unity that we feel will continue and even grow beyond today and cause large numbers of Americans to ponder just what it means to be an American and what we can do to maintain all that we have been given.

A new resolve and a new blog

"The United States form a young republic, a confederacy which ought ever to be cemented by a union of interests and affection, under the influence of those principles which obtained their independence." -Mercy Otis Warren

I am committed to finding a way to make certain that this nation, that I love with all of my heart, stays a sovereign nation of strength and power, "cemented by a union of interests and affection." I love these words by a sovereign woman observer and recorder of the American Revolution. I committed tonight to blog about what I read and ponder and consider as I continue through the Freedoms of Liberty classes. So, here I am. I will continue to blog my scripture and spiritual thoughts on my other blog, but am dedicating myself to finding followers here who want to protect the powers and the liberties of this nation. Join me as we work together to learn and therefore stay "under the influence of those principles which obtained our independence".