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.