Common Sense

"SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

In a recent episode of Duck Dynasty, one of Phil Robertson's grandchildren needed to find a "benchmark."  The benchmark was supposed to be the highest point in the area and it would be marked with a little plaque.  Phil asked, "Who put the marker there?"  The child answered, "The government."

That did it - Phil went off on the litany of evils of the government.  (Of course, Willie stood nearby groaning, rolling his eyes and lamenting, "Oh, no!  Here we go!").  Phil sounded exactly like my father and eerily like me.  See, here is the thing, rednecks don't like the government.

And, I am pretty sure that the government isn't too fond of us gun-toting, Bible-hugging rednecks either.

We all used to agree, in some form, that the government was taking away our liberties.  We came here, fought, died, sacrificed and survived to protect those liberties.  Now, we are giving them all up because of a lying, tyrannical dictator?

The examples abound throughout history of the demise of the republic.  We are deep within that process.  Socialist countries exist around the world and are going bankrupt.  We are heading in that direction.

The government dictates the hours that people can work in Western Europe, the government regulates what foods people can eat, the government controls how "open space" is used.

Is this what we really want?

I am afraid that we won't truly know the extent of the freedoms that we have until they are all gone.

What we really need right now, is some common sense.