There Is None Better

Govern-ments can be placed roughly into two broad classes: those that trust their citizens and those that do not. Governments that trust their citizens want to include them fully in the decision-making process. Governments that do not trust their citizens want to exclude them entirely from the decision-making process. This is because the leaders of oppressive regimes are elitist who always believe they know what is best for ordinary people like you and me. And besides, oppression is a highly profitable enterprise for the oppressor and his gang of cronies and henchmen.

It is only natural, however, for human beings to want some level of control over their destiny, so most normal people, if given a choice, will gravitate toward the former class of government.

Of all the democratic governments in the world there is none better than the one we fortunate Americans have inherited. Our government not only provides mechanisms for real citizen involvement but it also offers us a great many personal freedoms. And what’s most remarkable of all is that the privileges and freedoms we enjoy and often take for granted are guaranteed in writing.

But liberty is not sustained merely through the preservation of a few old documents at the nation’s capital. It also requires the people to faithfully preserve the spirit that brought those documents into existence in the first place. That spirit consists of three essential human qualities: a sense of self-worth, self-confidence and self-determination. It is a spirit that boldly proclaims to government: “We made you. You are our creation. You were created to serve us, not the other way around. Stay in your place.”

Make no mistake about it, masters will always rise up, even in a democratic society, if citizens exhibit even the slightest willingness to be controlled and dominated. The weak and timid invite oppressors and oppression. In fact, one might go so far as to say that the weak and timid form the fertile, nurturing soil in which oppressors take root and grow. On the other hand, a nation of assertive, self-reliant citizens make a poor soil for the production of tyrants.

If we wish to remain free, if we wish to preserve the government we inherited and are so fortunate to have, we must rekindle and hold fast to that special spirit that blazed so fiercely in the hearts and souls of our freedom-loving ancestors.

On this Thanksgiving day, let us be truly grateful for the freedoms so liberally provided to us under our unique system of government, and let us offer up a sincere prayer to God to bless our land and all its citizens.