The only way that those of us who believe in Constitutional, limited government are ever going to make what we believe a reality is if we stop making excuses, stop expecting other people to make democracy work, and stop thinking that the only choice we have to make is at the ballot box.
If you believe in Constitutional, limited government, then you believe in government of, by, and for the people. You believe in a government that requires citizens to be its most active component at all levels. If you don’t believe in those things, then you don’t believe in Constitutional, limited government.
So, if you claim a political party and don’t belong to it, you’re a hypocrite. If you don’t claim a party and do not regularly seek out the association of other like minded people, you’re worthless to the political process. If you think it’s somebody else’s job to figure out what needs to be done, you have rejected the ideals of government of, by, and for you.
Democracy of any kind can only thrive if people participate in it. Participation does not mean voting, it means being part of the process. It means knowing your local party officials personally. It means involving yourself in the process by which candidates end up on the ballot. It may even mean, yes, running for office yourself if you don’t think anyone else can get the job done.
If you need any more proof that the process needs you, look at what is happening to our nation right now. Congress and the President just enacted the single largest social program in US history at a cost of more than $950 billion. The US is more than $11 trillion in debt—by 2023 our debt will exceed our GDP. Less than half of Americans actually pay taxes at any level—that means not getting all of your tax return back.
All of this has happened because too many people who believe in Constitutional, limited government assumed these ideas were self-evident and that the system was self-correcting. Those people were wrong, and the ideas enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are in danger of being lost altogether.
If you’re mad after reading all of this, ask yourself: what are you doing about it?
DLH
