The Progressive Dream Government Today in America by Bob Imbrigiotta

Here is the corresponding structure of government under the Progressive Dream. This is what your government looks like today. It's a sad story compared to the structure from our founding. Today, you have no seat at the table of government, you are forced to sit in the stands. Unfortunately, today our government 'table' is occupied by big power groups that feed off corruption and greed. We are closer to a Dictatorship today than to our original Republic.

 

 

Please review the essays on Freedom which provide background information on the two structures of government presented today.

The Original American Dream Government by Bob Imbrigiotta

Today we are showing two illustrations of our government. The first one below is the original structure of government adopted with our Constitution in 1787. It outlines a simple, almost perfect structure of government that allows Freedom to flourish. And it gave American citizens a seat at the table of government.

 

Please review the essays on Freedom which provide background information on the two structures of government presented today. (I tried to put both illustrations on the same post but could not make both illustrations the same size, :-))

The American Dream will WIN! by Bob Imbrigiotta

(This essay is part three of three on a discussion about Freedom)
It’s 2012 and the American Dream is losing badly, and you can blame it on the current atmosphere and attitude in politics. As the old saying goes, “we have lost sight of the forest for the trees"! Do we focus on empowering freedom in America? NO! The Democratic Party continues to openly promote the Progressive Dream by believing that government is a living thing (even Obama's campaign theme FORWARD means 'PROgress') The Republican Party has blood on their hands by participating in the unclean mixing of government and business. Both feed off power and greed to further their cause, NOT the countries. Just like in sports, political parties strive to get the most points (votes) and their number one priority is to stay in power. This is wrong! We don’t have separate teams; we are ONE TEAM USA with one goal to promote Freedom, Liberty and the American Dream.

Taking our sports analogy one step further, rules keep the games fair; referees make sure the rules are followed and finally, fans show support by watching games.  Imagine, if teams changed rules during a game, and worse, the judges started to play, fans would stop showing up, and finally the game would dissolve. That abomination is what we have today in the United States of America!  Judges no longer judge, they play the game. Congress changes rules on the fly to pass unpopular bills, the President does about anything he wants, and sadly most of our government is run by agencies who make rules without any input from ‘We the People’. Our country is headed for ruin!

Is it surprising that polls show almost 90% disapproval rating for Congress? People know something is very wrong, maybe they sense that freedom, one of life’s ultimate truths is being trashed. What we need is a better way to illustrate the American political landscape. Let’s rotate our left/right system 90 degrees and envision the American Dream on top of a mountain and the Progressive Dream at the bottom. (Did they not once think the earth was flat?) Just as gravity pulls things down in nature; corruption, power and greed drag us down to a world of dim lights, the 1% and 99%. Thomas Jefferson warned us many years ago about the natural forces at play between liberty and government when he said:

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."

"The price of Freedom is eternal vigilance.”

You have to ask where did we go wrong? Maybe, when we stopped talking about the Declaration of Independence when doing 'the business of government' here in the states. We forgot about the link between the Declaration and the Constitution. For instance, when you go to the beach you say, “Wow, that sun feels great!” You would never say “Thank God for the fusion process that converts Hydrogen to Helium which generates heat and light." The Declaration expresses the benefit -- Freedom, and the Constitution is the process that enables Freedom to grow.

Thomas Paine’s book, Common Sense threw cold water on the faces of the Colonists who, in 1776, were indecisive about separation from Great Britain. He knew that we were on the verge of losing the very precious gift of freedom. He said this to the people who were supporting reconciliation.

“Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offence, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following descriptions: Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men who cannot see; prejudiced men who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this continent than all the other three.”

His quote is just as valid today as it was in 1776, but today his message goes to the Progressives and believers in big government. This philosophy, that creates a culture of dependent people and an out of control government, needs to be sent to the recycle bin!

So what do we do?

Step One: Problem Statement
Just like in engineering and project management, ask the question, what is our problem statement? Or, you may also frame it by the first step in the ‘Alcoholic Anonymous 12 Step Process’:

“1.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Our problem statement today: More government has not fixed problems stemming from changes in technology; we are now paralyzed by a runaway government that has taken on a life of its own.  

Step Two: New Founders

We need a group of Americans to get elected to Congress with one simple mission in mind, shut down the ‘Matrix’! They need to do it with the conviction stated in the last sentence of the Declaration of Independence:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

That statement describes why people serve their country and are willing to give up their life for Freedom.

Step Three:  Shut down the ‘Matrix’ ; return the country to ‘We the People’

The way to shut down the ‘Matrix’ is to kill its life support system. Start in the Executive Branch by ‘Declawing the Presidency’:

-Take away every Progressive era agency from the Executive, move them temporarily under Congress, and then put all proposed regulations to a vote by Congress. (Also move the independent agencies not under any branch under Congress).

-No more Executive Orders, the President is a manager not King George III, his job description is to concentrate on enforcing laws and serving as our Commander in Chief.

-No more Czars unless they are vetted by Congress.

-Stop recess appointments; make it so that all appointments are done on days when everyone is in town like the State of the Union address

-Move the Federal Reserve Board under Congress to reflect the  1844 Democratic Party Platform:

“ That Congress has no power to charter a United States Bank, that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concentrated money power, and above the laws and the will of the people.”

Step Four: Problem Solving Summit

Once the ‘Matrix’  is shut down we can have a serious discussion on the problems in America.
 

A. Reeducate America on our Constitution, and define the process to allow Freedom to flourish. Explain why ‘We the People’ need a simple, straight forward document to describe how we will govern ourselves. Challenge those who oppose the Constitution and make the case that human nature has not changed in 5,000 years and that the Constitution is perfectly adapted to human weaknesses.
 

Reinforce important ground rules:

i) Individuals are to be free with God given rights

ii) Individuals need a seat at the table of government

iii) Government must be simple and straightforward
iv) That government CANNOT take care of people and government CANNOT take care of businesses
 

Let the role of government be what it was intended to be over 236 years ago, mainly a frame to protect our borders, enforce laws and establish treaties with foreign countries.

 

B.    Empower the dependent souls in our country and help their Human Spirits shine. Free them from the bondage of the Progressive Dream. Create a sense of urgency equivalent to the spirit that drove the ‘Race to the Moon’ when we put Neil Armstrong on the moon in less than 10 years. Enlist the support of men and women who optimize and invent processes in engineering and business to reengineer how the USA will tackle its problems. Tap into the vast resources of people from all walks of life, not just lawyers. Give this problem to the free market, to churches and non-profits, not the government.

 

Example: Why can’t there be one million volunteers to go into the inner cities and serve as mentors, big brothers/sisters to those who need it badly!

 

C. Discuss how to remove the temptations for business that lead to crony capitalism. Sever those ties that lead to unholy bonds between government and business. Treat businesses as machines (not individuals) that make money for people in the Pursuit of Happiness. Ask ourselves, how should businesses behave in a society that empowers freedom and not take advantage of its workers and cities?

 

Our special time in history is here!

Do we have the right stuff anymore?

-George Washington did when he and his troops endured a horrible winter and almost froze to death at Valley Forge.

-Abraham Lincoln did when he remained firm that slavery must end in the South and that protecting life was worth the sacrifice of 600,000 young men.

-The small band of Texans did who fought so bravely in the Battle of the Alamo against a huge Mexican army.

-The 250,000 men and woman of the Greatest Generation did when they gave their lives for this country in the US military and Allies’ victory in World War II.

-Neil Armstrong did when he manually took over the controls of the lunar lander, knowing he might not have enough fuel to get back to the space capsule.
 

Let us pray that the USA does not become a place where people dream about a return of the American Dream to America lost in the early 21^st century. The choice is ours, will we reject tyranny or are we content with living in an alternative reality? Tell the world we REMEMBER the American Dream and we will come together to save our present and preserve the future for ourselves and those we love. 
 

AND WE CAN DO IT -- AS ONE TEAM USA.

 

(Our next discussion will focus on government today, and explore in greater detail this 'Matrix' running our lives.

What is Freedom? by Bob Imbrigiotta

(This essay is part two of three on a discussion about Freedom)

The political atmosphere in this country has a hatred attached to it. We look at the other party like an arch rival in sports – all that matters is that you win at the ballot box. Whatever the other side says we will find a way to disagree with them. America needs to find areas of common ground to become ONE TEAM USA not Democrats versus Republicans! When we find common ground, we will start solving problems fast like flashes of lightning in the sky. Maybe that common ground topic is Freedom? Maybe a discussion on Freedom will permit us to overpower the bias and distractions clouding our minds, and speak directly to people’s hearts – the home of the Human Spirit.

While this may seem odd to some (or most), I would like to suggest how living the American Dream or Progressive Dream might differ from the perspective of the individual (light shown by a gas burner). When do you sense your internal spirit being fed? When does it feel like someone is trying to put out your flame? 

American Dream/Freedom

First and foremost, Freedom is an OPEN feeling, like stars in the night sky – nothing blocking the path of your light.

Freedom is that open feeling when you are around family and friends, enjoying every moment. (I’ll never forget those awesome feelings of how it felt as a child when our huge family in Cleveland got together for holidays)

Freedom is the right to value and defend the preciousness of Life! There is no better example than the movie, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with Jimmy Stewart (George). In the movie, George attempted suicide after misplacing a large sum of money. But, George was saved by an angel.  Talking with the angel, George suggested that maybe it would have been better if he had never been born. The angel (with permission from Heaven) gave him his wish, and in so doing, gave George the wonderful gift of seeing how precious his life was. He saw all the people he helped throughout his life as well as those lives he saved. He saw the void in the world from never marrying and having a family. George realized that in the end, it was not about him, it was about his family and those he touched in this world. George begged the angel to let him have his life back! After being given his life back, George had a new perspective and rejoiced rather than lamented the possibility of going to jail (for the lost money). What mattered most is he had his life back! 

Freedom is Liberty when you have a seat at the table of government, where the individual is celebrated.  It is where you have the right to speak and document your views, to petition your government for change, and to join others in protest.

Freedom is the Right to worship God in the church of your choosing without any government interference or constraints. George Washington said in 1775:

"While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case they are answerable."

Freedom is the Pursuit of Happiness, those feelings that describe the start of a new challenge, when you set your sights on the mountain top ready to begin the journey. Freedom is the feeling when you go camping and realize that you're in charge. It is up to you to set-up the camp site, because there is no one else to lean on.

Freedom is the feeling when you receive your diploma at your high school or college graduation ceremony.  It is the satisfaction, the optimism about the future, and the knowledge that you will play the lead role in attaining your goals.

Freedom is the feeling when you are in the locker room just before a sporting event.  It is the nervousness and the sense of peace inside that tells you have a role on your team.

Freedom is also refocusing the light inside of you when you are criticized.  When a parent, coach or teacher/professor tells you that you’ve failed or messed-up, feelings of panic and disappointment can lead to course correcting. Freedom drives you to keep on trying, to keep sacrificing, knowing that the pain is worth the gain. Your internal flame keeps on burning because criticism is no match to your fortitude!

Freedom is having some good stress and fear in your life; it forces you to make decisions. Many of the best ones in your life are made in the heat of the battle.

Freedom is closely associated with the emotion of Love.

Progressive Dream/Captivity

Like our gas burner example which burned on high with Freedom. The flame of one in captivity is like a pilot light, barely on, fed just enough gas to stay lit. Explaining captivity requires fewer words because life has fewer options.

Captivity is a CLOSED boxed-in feeling, a feeling of being smothered.

 

Captivity is when you have no say in your government. No seat at the table of government,your seat has been moved to the stands to watch.  

Captivity is when your government borrows money that destroys the future of your children. Captivity is the feeling of helplessness when they make reckless decisions.

Captivity is when basic things will be provided to you at the expense of starting new challenges. There will be no more mountains to climb. There will be few times in your life when you’re in charge; many of life’s decisions will now fall into someone else’s control.

Captivity is having fewer dreams about your future, knowing that your potential is limited. Not having the drive to keep trying, no payoff for sacrifice.

Captivity is sadness, it is losing hope! Troubled times bring on despair and acceptance of a life with limited opportunity.

Captivity is when people cling to voting groups out of fear, unfortunately factions of corruption, power and greed feed off of this emotion which just leads to more dependence on their false promises of hope.

Captivity is being bullied and ridiculed by people  for believing in the teachings of the Bible on abortion and gay marriage. Captivity is when society claims a moral high ground on issues, not based on morality as defined by God in an absolute sense, but using a relative morality based on public opinion polls.

Captivity is closely associated with the emotion of Fear.

Where do we go from here?

The cultural mixing of the American Dream and the Progressive Dream has one outcome – to smother the flame of the Human Spirit. Unfortunately, the slow degradation of Freedom is like a freeway where traffic appears to be flowing smoothly, and all of a sudden crawls to a halt when a few more cars enter the freeway. If that were to happen in America, in a flash, the lights inside each of us would go dim from the clutter and control of government. I sense it is already starting to happen, in the last four years I have not felt the same on Independence Day (July 4^th) as I did when I was younger. In fact, nothing can describe how open I felt on our bicentennial (July 4^th, 1776). There was something extra special about that day, maybe a ‘seed’ was planted meant to sprout many years later?

Focusing on the Human Spirit (flame) inside each of us is no different than Moses who encountered God in the burning bush, or for us Christians (I am Catholic) who believe that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.

So much of life today is gray; black and white no longer seem to be choices in life. But when we dig down to our souls, the place where there is a black and a white, the place where the Human Spirit lives, we will see clearly the differences between these dreams. If we can break away from all the clutter and focus on the light, we will see the dark-side of the Progressive Dream. That will set us free, unify us, and find the common ground for ONE TEAM USA!

The American Dream is in the Fight of Its Life by Bob Imbrigiotta

(This essay is part one of three on a discussion about Freedom)

Freedom is what makes America great. Freedom is the FUEL of the Human Spirit and allows the flame inside each of us to burn its brightest which brings out the best in us. For 236 years, our government has been the champs at letting freedom flourish and in fact created the concept of The American Dream! Unfortunately it is under attack and in the fight of its life. There is a competing dream in America, one that I will call the Progressive Dream, a philosophy from the late 1800’s Progressive Movement . The American Dream and Progressive Dream are opposites in the field of political thought, just like fire and ice. Examining the stark differences between the two will reveal the truth, and will reveal the common ground which will allow us to come together and emerge as ONE TEAM USA!

The American Dream

Most people don’t realize that the American Dream was the start of something very special, almost magical. Men had been writing about Freedom for thousands of years and it never really got a good chance until the early 1600’s. When the Pilgrims came to the New World in 1607, they established a society empowering Freedom that lasted for almost 150 years. The Colonists adopted self-government in an outpost of civilization. By the mid-18^th century, America enjoyed the highest per capita income in the world. Ben Franklin remarked in a debate at the House of Commons in the 1760’s:

“They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; they were led by a thread.”

Around 1760, there began a turbulent fifteen year period when Great Britain’s high sovereign debt led to taxation and tyranny in the Colonies. Colonists were told where to live, what Tea to buy, and to pay a tax on any paper (the media of the day). They were forced to see laws passed with no representation and to deal with judges who were pawns of King George III. Imagine the shock felt by these Colonists who, after living in Freedom for 150 years, had to experience the period of tyranny. Not only did it throw cold water onto the faces of the Colonists. It also watered the seeds of the Declaration of Independence.  When Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1776:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

He wrote in that document one of life’s ultimate truths, just as animals live free in the wild, people likewise ought to be free.  He stated that our rights are God given. The Founders had a core belief that God played a role in our lives to help one pursue his or her dreams! This empowered them to create a limited government which trusted the individual and gave him a seat at the table of government.

The promise of the American Dream is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Note these are INTANGIBLES -- things that can't be touched or felt in a physical sense!

Since this time, the transforming power of Freedom has been on display in America. Never before in the history of man has a country had so many citizens internal flame burning so brightly. And it was noticed! Americans stood out in the crowd for our confidence, optimism, and can-do attitude. We were a culture of winners and doers! As a nation we earned our reputation for accomplishments in science and business, for our tremendous wealth and prosperity, and for our generosity to nations in need. When the collective lights of an entire country are burning brightly the potential is unlimited! Capturing this spirit of America would be like trying to paint the night sky as seen from the top of a mountain. No artist could ever capture the billions of glowing specks burning so brightly. That is America!

 

The Progressive Dream

The Progressive Dream came about in the late 1800’s when society was grappling with problems stemming from the Industrial Revolution. Problems like shrinking demand for skilled tradesmen as businesses shifted to unskilled workers, harsh working conditions, child labor and politics dominated by big business. There was a belief that our system of government could not keep up with changes in society from the advances being made in technology. We needed a way to ‘PROgress’ and allow government to catch-up with the times.

At that time, there was also an arrogance for independence, not independence from Great Britain, but an independence from the constraints of the Constitution.  Imagine living at a time when Charles Darwin suggested how men and animals could evolve without a God. This was combined with significant achievements in science, and people began drinking the progressive tea. Citizens began to distrust the Constitution’s ability to govern effectively. In 1912, President Woodrow Wilson remarked in a paper titled ‘What is Progress’:

“The trouble with the theory is that government is not a machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but under the theory of organic life. It is accountable to Darwin, not to Newton.”

“Living political constitutions must be Darwinian in structure and in practice. Society is a living organism and must obey the laws of life, not of mechanics; it must develop”

We started to think of government as a living thing. Government became ‘alive’ by the creation of agencies to manage most aspects of life. It was fed by the new income tax and supported by the new Federal Reserve Board. During the Depression, the expansion of government continued with the New Deal under the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In fact, James Q. Wilson in his book, Bureaucracy, What Governments Agencies Do and Why They Do It  said:

“Today there is not much chance to create a new agency; almost every agency one can imagine already has been created.”

The Progressive Dream was best expressed in writing by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1944 State of the Union Address. In that speech he spoke of a second Bill of Rights for the American people:

"... a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are:

-The right to a useful and remunerative job….

-The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing…

-The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products….

-The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition…..

                  -The right of every family to a decent home

                  -The right to adequate medical care….

-The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness….

-The right to a good education"

Note that the Progressive Dream speaks of rights that are TANGIBLE in nature, things that can be provided to the individual. The Progressive Dream provides ‘fuel’ for the body not the spirit! As we say in engineering, the word ‘right’ in each of the FDR statements is the root cause of the differences between the two dreams. When a Progressive says those things are rights, it uses government as the vehicle to make those things a reality.  But, the problem is that the list is YOUR list not the governments! What makes life so fulfilling is to pursue those things on your own. Sadly, they are going against human nature and man’s longing to be free by taking ownership of your God given rights.

The Constitution, which described a limited government to allow men to govern themselves, was replaced by a ‘living’ government that made decisions regarding life in America. The new government was no different than the alternate reality from the movie, ‘The Matrix’. The individual’s seat at the table of government slowly went away as ‘laws’ were replaced by agency regulations (passed without a vote from Congress) and an explosion in the number of judges who made laws from the bench.

Just as animals in captivity lose their edge and ability to care for themselves, so do people who begin to depend on the government for their basic needs of food, shelter and medical care. It creates a culture of dependency! Tragically, when government provides for you, your internal flame can barely burn. Unlike the overwhelming splendor of lights produced by the America Dream, the Progressive Dream produces just a few bright stars; most so dim that they cannot be seen like the night sky over a big city.  Still, the Progressive Dream has an attraction to many with the promise of basic material things. Unfortunately, the dangers of ignoring the needs of the Human Spirit get lost in the shuffle.

The Progressive Dream has also hurt businesses! When the Government establishes safety nets to ‘protect markets’ from crashes in housing and banking it has the opposite effect. It creates a culture of dependent businesses that forego sound risk management procedures and ‘thinking through on issues’.

Based upon the huge incorrect assumption, that Government can provide for man, the Progressive Dream has created a terribly vicious cycle. The cycle starts when Legislators throw money at government programs, which normally fail because they ignore man’s yearning to be Free. Continuing  this Worldview that government can provide for man, the response to failed programs is for legislators to spend more money. And it continues on and on. Ben Franklin, one of our greatest founders had some prophetic words for the dangers of a progressive system:

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."

We have somehow forgotten the difference between ‘helping people in need’ versus ‘taking care of them’. (In essay #3 on Freedom we will discuss some suggestions for dealing with the problems of poverty in our country)

The Root Cause of Our Problems

The American Dream provides ‘fuel’ for the Human Spirit; the Progressive Dream provides ‘food’ for the body producing a culture of dependent people. One dream trusts in the individual, while the other trusts in government. When you mix a culture of independence (American Dream) and dependence (Progressive Dream) the result is a slowly sinking society that dims all lights and produces a purely dependent culture. The dark overwhelms the light!

The Progressive Dream is poison for the Human Spirit!

Dream	Creators	Key Assumptions	Provides
The American Dream	The Founders	-Men are to be Free -There are God given unalienable rights -Men should self-govern -Men should have a seat at the table of government -Government should be limited and constrained by the Constitution	Intangible rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
The Progressive Dream	The Progressives	-Government needed to counter the advance of technology -Government is a living thing -Government can take care of people	Tangible rights to job, salary, home, medical care, education and more

Let’s focus on the light inside each of us and realize; IT’S ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL! When we do this we will we find common ground to tackle the problems of America as ONE TEAM USA! Then watch problems drop, one by one, in lightning speed.

This essay is dedicated to my father, Robert P Imbrigiotta, who passed away one year ago today.