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Justice Echoes The Alarm Of Lost Heritage of Freedom: It’s Just Too Bad That She’s Not A Superstar Athlete or Entertainer

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The other week McClatchydc.com reported something that continues to sadden and amaze me that was lamented by Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra D. O’Connor. The Justice warned about the alarming ignorance amongst the nations young regarding the most basic questions on civics and our national history.

See if these statements make your neck hairs do a dance in fear for this nation’s future of freedom and liberty: 2 out of 3 Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice; Just 1 out of 3 can name the three branches of the federal government; Less than 1 out of 5 of high school seniors can explain how citizen participation benefits democracy: and most amazingly she stated that less than 1 out of 3 of eighth-graders can identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence. Dahhh…How about INDEPENDENCE! Justice O’Connor stated, “learning about citizenship is just as important for American children as learning multiplication or how to write their names…if there is a single child not learning about civics or not being exposed to what they must do as citizens, then all our lives are poorer for that.”

But, she’s just the latest addition to the course of voices warning of the lost of this nation’s freedoms and liberties simply do the sheer ignorance of American’s knowledge, understanding, and respect for them by our young, and the populous at large. A 2008 USA Today article, Americans don’t know civics, in the first line said, “From high-school dropouts to college graduates to elected officials, Americans are “alarmingly uninformed” about the USA’s history, founding principles and economy — knowledge needed to participate wisely in civic life…” Here are some mind-numbing bullet points:

  • Only half of U.S. adults can name all three branches of government.

  • Slightly less the half adults know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. They think it belongs to the President.

  • Less then a quarter knows that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but but over half knew Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol.

  • And perhaps most telling, nearly half can correctly identify a basic description of the free enterprise system and of the elected officials, only 43% knows the Electoral College is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president. 1 out of 5 thinks it “trains those aspiring for higher office” or “was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates.”

A more recent CNN July 4th, 2013 article reported that, “A shocking 85% of Americans cannot correctly describe the “rule of law,” as bedrock a principle as we have. A similar percentage cannot identify the Constitution as the “supreme law of the land.” WOW!

Couple this with recent Gallop Poll showing the just 10% of Americans have any faith in the government, the lowest point in history, is a volatile mixture for this republic whose liberties and freedoms rest solely on the presumption that the populous majority would be politically and civic literate.

I recognize that we all have busy and challenging lives. And it is good to escape the pains and burdens that life sometimes bring with trivial pursuits such as, sports and entertainment. But, we have to set priorities and take ownership of our individual responsibilities to keep this nation free as it was intended to be for not just for the enjoyment and pleasures of ourselves but for our posterity. How can we properly defend freedoms and liberties that we know little or nothing about? How can we expected our children to enjoy the freedoms and liberties as many of us have when they are not taught what they are, properly shown the benefits of them, nor have them repetitively hear or see the principles of our constitutional founding? And how can any of us effectively participate in the workings of the government-citizen relationship if we do not know what our proper role is nor that of the government?

As two of my favorite quotes prophetically states,“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” – Ronald Reagan- and the other from Ben Franklin, as he exited the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a woman asked, what kind of government he and the other delegates had decided on? and he replied, “A republic, madam — if you can keep it.” If the thundering alarms of our vanishing freedoms and liberties continue to be drowned out by cheers of the Sunday’s football game, distracted by the excursion to the beach, or just ignored for the sake of not wanting to be burdened with the responsibility to act, don’t be too surprised that there be none to see when you finally open your eyes.

Have The American People Gone Too Far Forsaking Liberty?

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Congressman Ron Paul during his farewell speech to the Congress made some very provocative points that should give anyone who truly loves this nation serious pause regarding the path that we now find ourselves as a nation that was established to be the model of individual freedom and liberty.  Two statements he made that caught my eye were, “I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace- it should be an easy sell. Yet, history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled.” and, “The Founders were convinced that a free society could not exist without a moral people.  …Today the rule of law written in the Constitution has little meaning for most Americans”   Irregardless of what you may think of the messenger, the message itself  is troubling.

First, why is the message of liberty today not solidly embraced in today’s America, while at the same time many of us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, wave “Ol’ Glory, and give lip service to its ideals?  Today there are more citizens receiving some form of assistance from the federal government, i.e., Social Security, Food Stamps, and Medicare.   Too many people are more willing to take a hand out rather that a hand up. With Obamacare, the government is now able to regulate or control every aspect of a citizen’s life.  During the past 12 plus years the government has expand to  unprecedented scales and during this recession government  jobs have greatly expanded, while those in the private sector have done so in the reverse.   The citizens of the United States and America have chosen to elect the most liberally social and economic minded man to be president ever who espouses nothing other than greater government, less individual liberty, and give to those simply based on their need and to take from those based on their ability, twice.  Group identity has surpassed individual identity in the consciousness of many Americans, whether it is based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, gender, or income. Such ideals are intellectually repugnant to the very principles of our nation’s founding.  In fact, today to even be so bold as to claim one’s liberties recognized in the Constitution as superior to any claim by a group or quote any of the Founders risk being seen as a radical, extremist, anti-diversity, anti-government, or anything short of a child of God.  The very concept of freedom and liberty has become an extreme psychological burden to many.

There was even actually an open conversation on The CBS Good Morning program last month by a so-called professor talking about honestly doing away with parts of the Constitution because they are not “inspiring” and equating the Founders with the U.N and France.  Really?  I have actually had heated discussions with people  over the issue of gun control. They questioned the need for anyone to have military-styled weapons or any amount of guns that they deemed excessive.  My response to them was it is the constitutionally protected right for any American to have as many guns as he wants. Period! Just as every American has the right to smoke as many cigarettes as her or she chooses, or anything else for that matter, gorge himself on fast foods, or spend all of his money on scratch-off lottery tickets, so long as it does not interfere with nor infringe upon my rights and liberties.  That is the truest and should be the easiest concept of freedom to understand.  Shouldn’t it?

America is no longer the freest nation economically, we’re 10th behind nations such as Chile, Hong Kong, and Mauritius, and we have more people in correctional institutions than Communist China or Russia.  Both of these issues are symptomatic of an underlined debasement of our nation’s moral compass and refusal of too many of us to embrace the weight of the responsibility that comes with personal liberties and freedoms.  To borrow a line from Spiderman, “with great power, comes great responsibility.”

America was to be the shining light of freedom on the hill for all those seeking such to be guided.  There is no greater power than that of a free individual, a sovereign.  But, yes too there is no greater responsibility than that which is applied to that individual. Ben Franklin prophetically stated, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” 

But just as one may disclaim, so too can he reclaim.  Many of us have forgotten or have never been introduced to the greatness of our nation’s Constitution and founding documents and principles, so we know not what it is that is to be our birthrite and that has made us uniquely exceptional to other nations. Thus we lack the true significance of our incrementally forsaking our birthrite of liberty.  But, it is up to us to reclaim, to become reintroduced, or to become educated to what it is to be free. To question with stern boldness what direction those entrusted with the nation’s governance.  And if it is not the Constitution and or the people that they receive their authority, it needs to be asked then by which do they? And then seek real change.  Or else remember another statement made by Congressman Paul, “Once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people habits and plan the economy, it causes a steady move toward tyrannical government.”