Loading ...I live in what I consider to be the greatest State in the Union, Tennessee. I know my friends in Texas would argue the point and claim they live in Heaven-on-Earth, but I would remind them that it was Sam Houston and Davy Crockett from Tennessee who had to take a little trip down there and transplant a little bit of home. I was born and raised in the same neck of the woods that gave this Country those men, and I feel an obligation to carry the torch for their ideals.
Now I live in Memphis and I guess that gives me a perspective on exactly what recent trends on the National scene are leading us to as a Nation. Memphis is a perfect example of the end result of socialism. We have the lowest educational scores, highest taxes, highest crime rate and highest poverty rate in the State. The city was just named the 2nd most miserable city in the United States to live in, right behind Chicago, by Forbes. This weekend, a security guard was shot at and almost run over by a thief trying to steal a $140 dollar digital camera from the Walgreen’s a few blocks from my home. A few weeks ago, I reported the convenience store a few blocks from my home that was robbed at gunpoint just before I was to make my daily stop. Last year, the security guard at the AutoZone store I frequent had a shoot-out with a would-be robber. In the past year, I’ve bought two lawn mowers to replace the one’s stolen from my carport (I also bought a chain and lock for the latest one). Did I mention that I live in one of the nicer parts of the inner-city?
This is the result of a populous that has become dependent upon the government. There is a prevailing attitude of “entitlement” which leads those to take because they feel they are “owed”. As a result of President Johnson’s Great Society, an entire generation grew up knowing only a dependence upon government, the exact opposite ideal from what Tennessee and this Nation was built upon. I know the attitude well, because I too grew up as a “entitlement” child. It took me decades to finally break free from the bonds that had been placed upon my life by those “entitlement” ideals.
That is the danger of the latest movement by our national leaders towards socialism and communist ideals. If you want to see the end result, look no further than Memphis. We cannot survive as a nation much longer if we continue to promote individual irresponsibility and failure, and punish individual responsibility and success. We must put aside political differences and work together to insure that this path is not followed.
That is what the Chicago Tea Party is all about. Although important, a number of small effortshave been launched around the Nation and are doomed to fail because they are sporatic and only a few hundred people show up when they are held. There is also divisiveness resulting from the tendency of conservatives to put themselves into their own little box or collective. I guess that is part of the independent streak that runs among conservatives. However, imagine if neo-conservatives, paleo-conservatives, religious-conservatives, fiscal-conservatives and several dozen other hyphenated conservatives got together as One. What if on one day, American’s simply put aside the political nuances that divide them and stood up to assert support for the Constitution and the ideals upon which this Nation was founded? That is the hope behind the Chicago Tea Party, that in Chicago and cities across the Nation, millions of Americans will stand in unison with one voice too loud to be ignored in Washington.
I hope that in the months ahead, each of you will consider the cost if we don’t stop this new slavery movement before it begins. When government becomes your father, your master, and your God, then you have no freedom. The immortal words of Patrick Henry sum up my position on the matter:
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Go sign the petition and participate in this event. It will be something to tell your grandkids about.
