Sent: Saturday, May 02,
2020 1:45 PM
Subject: There was a time
There was a time when
the state and federal government—except for maybe in times of war—pretty much
stayed out of our way.
In those days the church
helped reinforce community standards and the integrity of government.
Not anymore, that
time is long gone...and increasingly as I view our society and how the church
and our communities are responding, it seems pretty FAR FETCHED to think the
great experiment that made America so great is coming back.
- There was a time...when freedom and opportunity abounded, things
were improving and taxes were not much of a burden on what we earned.
- There was a time when you could purchase some land and start building
a home on it, or add a room, or a number of rooms...and not have
government officials hounding you, charging you, and then taxing you in
perpetuity for what you did to improve your property.
- There was a time when you could leave your door unlocked and not
worry about getting robbed...that was a time before the “government”
thought theft a crime not worth bothering about and certainly not worth
doing more than slapping the hand if the person was caught.
- There was a time when you could send your child to school and trust
that the emphasis was on learning to read, write, arithmetic, parental
values were upheld, and to gain an understanding and respect for the
nation’s founding...that was a time when parents could trust their kids to
walk to school or play in the neighborhood...without fear of having their
children taken away by the government for neglect.
- There was a time when a person could experiment with starting a
business, or hiring someone to do some work for them...without being
crushed by burdensome rules, regulations, fees, permits, wage restrictions
and crippling lawsuits were virtually unknown.
- There was a time when we had local newspapers, papers that people
held to account and trusted to tell the facts...but that was a time before
a few large corporations bought up those newspapers and new media, and
began to spin the truth to further their particular agenda.
- There was a time when we had values, and even the miscreants
understood what those values were and society order was maintained and
prospered...but that was a time before we were taught that those values
were old fashioned and counterproductive...to be replaced by no values
except what was expedient for those with the power to exercise it.
- There was a time when it was understood that small business
entrepreneurship was at the heart of American growth and success...but
that was a time before big corporations gained the power to get laws
passed that would help them reduce or eliminate the competition of small
businesses and startup operations.
- There was a time long, long ago...only during the first 50 or so
years following our nation’s founding, where the people actually were able
to select people known to them to represent them in the state and federal
legislatures...but that was a time long gone, before districts grew so
large that it was rare that big business, big money and special interests
did not control who got on the ballot and who got elected to do their
bidding.
- There was a time, for over a century after our nation’s founding,
when the Constitution was respected as the supreme law of the land and
interpreted according to its original intent—as one would expect of any
legal document...but that was a time before corrupt politicians came up
with their “progressive” idea, adopted from the schools of Europe, to
bypass the Constitutional process and make the Constitution a “living
document” that the courts and legislature, rather than We the People, can
twist and change the law to what they want it to be.
- There was a time when people proudly proclaimed “sound as the U.S.
Dollar!” That was the time when our money actually grew in
purchasing value over time...but that was before the politicians and
bankers came up with the idea of the Federal Reserve, and as a result our
dollar has been devalued year after year after year, to a pittance of what
it was before.
- There was a time when the local county was the primary seat of
government for the community under the control of We the People and a
clear rule of law--handling the primary affairs of our life: public
education, private property rights, public decency, business and right to
work, vagrancy and mental health, criminal justice, public health, and
other social issues...but that was a long time ago as federal and state
grew, lawsuits and the judicial weighed in until what we had was a complex
of interconnected bureaucracies beyond our control, and we learned to
comply and accept that is the way it is "that you can't fight city
hall"
- There was a time, not too long ago, when children were raised to
apply themselves, be responsible and to earn their way in life, and so it
was … but that was before the “progressives” taught such was an archaic
leftover from a primitive pioneer past, that in our modern world we are to
look to the evolution of a growing government that will protect us and
meet our needs.
- There was a time when people respected the law, respected our
nation, and thought we were on the right track...but that was until the
time when the schools, the media, and heroes in the entertainment industry
taught us otherwise.
- There was a time when our founder’s dream of self-government by We
the People seemed to be and increasing reality...but that was a time long
ago.
There was a time when
we respected, not feared government...but that was a long time ago.