Do we have the government we deserve?

Election 2014

It's true. We really do have the government we deserve. Unfortunately, many voters, especially young voters, became disheartened after Obama proved to be as corrupt as his predecessors and failed to deliver on any of his promises. A recent poll indicates that almost 80% now regret having supported his candidacy. What they now need to realize is that this isn't the time to walk away and wash their hands of politics. They have to come back and help clean up the mess that they helped to make or they truly deserve this government and its consequences.

Alexis Charles Henri Clérel de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian, famous for his work Democracy in America, is generally credited with first observing that “people have the government they deserve”. It doesn't really matter. I'm taking credit for its broader interpretation. De Tocqueville made what I see as a fatal flaw. He added the qualifier “...in a democracy.” I believe that everyone has precisely the government that they deserve regardless of the fact that it is a democracy or any other form of government. My belief is founded in my trust of the Declaration of Independence which states...

“...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 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.”

Thus, if any people live under any form of oppression or tyranny, they have the same rights as we have every election day. Even though they lack the right to throw off their government at the ballot box, they may throw it off as our Founders did.

So, we made a mistake the last few times we voted. Is that any reason to surrender to tyranny?

Don't blame the government. Remember, we voted for it. Don't blame the politicians. They are simply responding to our wishes. They promise whatever we want to hear to gain our votes. If they break those promises it's only because we give them permission. How? We reelect them even after they break them.

So, who do we blame?

Well, you can begin with your local school board. Ask them, why didn't I hear of de Tocqueville before reading this blog? He was always mentioned in civics class. What's that you ask? It's the lesson where students learned how to be better citizens, to vote more intelligently, and to revere their condition as free citizens. Also, ask the school board why they allow teachers to encourage their students to revile and vilify America. That too has changed in modern times.

You can also blame American journalism. If citizens were truly aware of what has been happening, few if any of our current incumbents in Congress and state houses as well as the White House would be there. Instead, American journalists have become propagandists for career politicians and we have suffered the consequences.

It may just be that we can thank our good fortune that we have come to the precipice of the economic and political ruin at which we find ourselves today. Staring into its abysmal depths, there are few who require any proof of my assertions. My case is prima facie, true on the face of it. We need only now agree to work together to fix it. Most of all, we need the young to learn from our mistakes. Don't walk away in disgust as I did so many years ago. Roll up your sleeves and help me fix what I have broken.