Lyle's Blog

The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4 in 1776. Yes, it was declaring separation from England but it was so much more than that. America was a land separated from the old established entanglements of Europe with its rulers in continual conflict for power. America was separated from the historical chains of the former way of doing things; we had an ocean between us.

England had a huge influence on American culture to be sure but there was something a vast seemingly limitless frontier fostered in the hearts of many; the freedom to do anything you wanted unfettered by government. Freedom thinking was born in many minds and the unthinkable became possible. Men with much to lose chose to risk it all and form a new nation with a new concept, a place where people were governed by themselves. Just maybe America could become a land where laws were set up for the benefit of citizens who actually had a voice in those laws.

A grand idea that we’ve been struggling with for over 250 years for two basic reasons. The lust for power over other people’s lives always provides a political atmosphere where politicians develop a knack for pitting one part of the populace against the other.

Getting ahead in society in those days required hard work by all. I’m not talking about the elitists who’ve always had the advantage. It was the “little” guy who finally could benefit from his own sweat and tears. Over time this reliance on self by the self-governed has been broken down by politicians granting favor to their constituents. Their efforts weren’t for the greater good but based on satisfying enough people to maintain your election.

So here we are today a self-serving generation, for the most part, divorced from the necessity of being responsible for our own success. Self-government necessitates self-discipline and self-reliance.

Ever-increasing taxes have laid the bedrock of a society bent on slothful behavior in which takers have become more in number than makers. Some of us are trying to resurrect our constitutional republic. Maybe. There are many abandoning the ship of lies and that is encouraging. The faithful who believed the lies and took the jab may find themselves undermined by those pied-pipers who insisted on saving their world.

I hope I’m wrong and we can go back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when the Lone Ranger had a sidekick but didn’t need an army of government soldiers to right the wrongs of the criminals.