Preamble and Gettysburg

I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to address a topic which I believe is very fitting this year since it is an election year, and due to where we seem to be at this moment as a nation, both socially and politically. Recently, I heard someone say we are at a fork in the road. We are probably close to falling apart as a union, as well. We may have had a better foundation than most nations, but we have only gotten this far. The preamble to our United States Constitution which was written and signed in 1787 reads as follows:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

If we fast forward around seventy-six years from 1787 to 1863, United States president, Abraham Lincoln delivered a well-known speech while dedicating the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The obvious backdrop was that as a nation we were in the middle of a Civil War. Yes, we were horribly divided. The following lines from that speech often resonate:

“…that these dead shall not have died in vain– that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”  

In relevance to the Constitution, government of the people, by the people, for the people seems to describe the original purpose and intent. We appear to have started off quite well, but somehow today many are questioning if our current government is one of the people, by the people, and for the people? Perhaps we have ended up in a different place than originally intended, or we would not be questioning. Does the government rule, or do the people rule? If the overwhelming majority say that it is the latter, the change we need to correct the problem is for the people to start telling the government what to do ASAP instead of the government dictating, as in a dictatorship.

Americans have what they deserve. If they aren’t happy with their current situation, it is entirely their fault for allowing it to happen. I do not know if all in politics is a result of apathy, but very often it is. Self-analysis that is sincere and honest is probably the first step currently needed. However, a few questions perhaps need to be answered. The following are some good examples just to get started. What do we do, and what can we do? Can we get back on track, backtrack, or do we need to jump the tracks? Are we really doing what the preamble states, and what Lincoln declared at Gettysburg? Do we need a constitutional convention? Anyone thinking all is copacetic is most likely under a rock or listening to our chronically biased mainstream media. I will leave it up to you to come up with the answers.

 

References:

The United States Constitution

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863