February 1, 2009 – Towards the beginning of the movie National Treasure, starring Nicholas Cage, there is a verbal exchange between Ben Gates, (Cage’s character) and Riley Poole, his loyal sidekick. After reading a portion of the Declaration of Independence, Gates murmurs, “People don’t talk like that anymore.” To which Riley Poole says, “Beautiful, uh, I have no idea what you said.”

I can empathize with that sentiment, and even take it one step further, people don’t think like that anymore either. However, it is not merely the eloquence with which our founding fathers wrote that is missing, it is the passion for those beliefs that people lack today.

As I sit here in front of my computer, pondering what to say, and how to say it, millions of Americans are glued to their televisions, watching the Super Bowl. People have told me that it is un-American to not care about the Super Bowl, or the World Series. I could say the same thing about their total lack of desire to know the intent of the documents that founded this nation.

Maybe I am a bit of an oddball, as I have always had a fascination for the written word. As a child I grew up a voracious reader. I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as books on Greek and Roman mythology. This fascination carried over into school where I read Lord of the Flies, Animal House, 1984, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and many others. My love for reading kept me sane during many a twelve hour shift in the power plant I was stationed at in Spain. During those long nights I read most of the Ludlum books, many of the Tom Clancy books, as well as those written by Stephen King. I also read many of the cheaper novels about Remo Williams, the Penetrator Mark Hardin, and the Mack Bolin books.

I have always admired someone who could paint a picture with words. I will never forget a lecture given by my seventh grade English teacher, Mr. Dawson. He said, a good writer can stimulate images, scents, and sounds with the words they choose. It is always something I fell short of, but it was something I nevertheless strived for in my short lived attempt at creative writing.

Although my teacher may have been discussing the creative writing process, there is something else I found during the hours spent reading the writings of our founding fathers. Although they did not bring alive images and smells, they did bring forth something else, something I have found to be more rewarding, a sense of patriotism and love for the ideals upon which this country was founded.

These men had the ability to frame ideas in such a concise manner, and at the same time make you feel their conviction for what they believed in. Take, for instance, the final sentences of Patrick Henry’s immortal speech, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” A mere forty two words, yet so powerful that they still send shivers down my spine when I read them.

Then there is my all time favorite, taken from the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, “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. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

These are words that should be seared into our consciousness, for they are not merely historical relics, good only for viewing at the National Archives. These are the principles from which we enjoy the few liberties we still retain. If we forget these principles entirely, there will be no protecting the few rights that have not been infringed upon.

In 1788, Noah Webster, wrote, On the Education of Youth in America. In it he states, “Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.”

Yet these principles upon which our nation was founded, have become trivialized, thought of as mere suggestions, and not binding policies. Our government disregards them at leisure, and we the people refuse to hold them accountable because we have forgotten the sacrifices made which granted us those rights and freedoms.

Mercy Warren was an American writer and playwright during the American Revolution. She wrote a book entitled, History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. From that book I quote, “It is necessary for every American, with becoming energy to endeavor to stop the dissemination of principles evidently destructive of the cause for which they have bled. It must be the combined virtue of the rulers and of the people to do this, and to rescue and save their civil and religious rights from the outstretched arm of tyranny, which may appear under any mode or form of government.”

The principles upon which our nation was founded are what made this country a shining example of what people can achieve when left alone by their government. Those principles are the reasons millions flocked to this country to seek a better life. Yet we have forsaken them, tossed them by the wayside, to be replaced by a Big Brother mentality in regards to our government. There is nary a part of your life that is regulated and controlled by some government regulation or dictate. Yet we still call ourselves the land of the free.

That is why I incessantly quote the founding fathers in my articles. It is because we have forgotten their intent and their desire for a limited government, as Thomas Jefferson said, “The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.”

In the Scriptures, there is a passage in Hosea 4, which bears quoting, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee…” Hosea 4:6

Our country is now teetering on the edge of collapse, both economically and socially, because we have been found lacking in knowledge when it comes to the principles upon which it was founded. For our country to survive, we must re-learn those principles, and as Goethe once said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply!” The only alternative was plainly described by the Greek philosopher Plato, “The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs, is to be ruled by evil men.”

That is why I sit here, in front of this computer, seeking to find the words that will crack through the wall of apathy and complacency, that like a cancer, is killing this country.

It appears that you just can’t fix stupid.

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal

The Ross Archive on The Federal Observer