The American Crisis

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

--The American Crisis, Thomas Paine

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot are phrases that provide brilliant imagery. These are the folks who love their country and the freedoms that its constitutional framework provide, but when difficulties arise, they "shrink from the service of their country". Picture the "sunshine patriot". He is what the present day vernacular would refer to as a fair weather fan or a Sunday Christian. As long as the birds are singing with a gentle breeze in the air, these types of individuals love their country. They love the opportunities of upward mobility--until the upward climb brings the slightest sign of a challenge. Once times get tough, the Sunshine Patriot begins to blame his or her own country for the ills and troubles across the globe. As gloom sets in, innumerable instances of good and compassion that their country has done for the international community seems to fade away from their memories. It is quite ridiculous how narrow-minded and forgetful open-minded and informed people can be.

Another great quote from Thomas Paine's The American Crisis talks about the tendencies of people to panic.

'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world.

We have these panics and crises all the time. Oil is through the roof, Islamic radicals are coming to get us, the seas are going to rise and swallow our coastal regions, light bulbs are ruining the environment, etc., etc. There are countless examples of catastrophic events and trends that we hear about each day. This is nothing new. Thomas Paine was writing about this phenomenon in the 1700's. The intellectual minds of our day seem to think that things are different now than they've ever been before. For the first time in Earth's history, the average temperature is fluctuating. This example is only one of the more obvious logical fallacies out there--yet it still has governments, corporations, educators and private citizens in one of these panics.

Just as Thomas Paine desired for a Jersey girl to stimulate the populous to act to protect their liberty and freedom, we too are seeking after such a character. The bad news is that the American people are looking for an image instead of a character. They are putting their faith in a politician to make the right decisions for this country. They are gravely missing the point. They each can and should fill the role of the Jersey Girl. No government is deserving of any one's faith. The presence of government indicates a lack of morals among a nation. If all citizens were fair to one another and protected each others' rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there would be no need for a government. Government is only here to minimize the impact of individuals' vices on their fellow citizens and to protect the nation from outside attacks.

The current presidential election is fairly disappointing as both remaining serious candidates are running on panics. McCain is pushing the Global Warming agenda, which is 10% factual and 90% fluff. Obama, similarly, is running a campaign on very little more than BS. In an hundred speeches, he is yet to make one coherent point that he hasn't had to explain away in subsequent interviews. The "black and white, male and female, gay and straight" nothingness was old the first time he tried it. America is a country of over 300 million people. To imagine that all have the same needs, wants and ideas is beyond naive--it is insane. The panic the Obama is running on is a combination of small fears and fictional stereotypes. Change is only good when it is good change. Change, when it happens to cause economic, political and cultural damage is bad change. Very few people who lived in Central Europe would describe that region's change toward the Soviet style of socialism as good change. Similarly, an American government that is already too big will do very little good by expanding even more.

The type of change that I seek is a return to personal accountability, a nation that is self-sufficient consisting of citizens that are self-sufficient, and true bottom-up governance. Although certain candidates for the U.S. presidency claim that government is most equitable when decisions are made from the ground-level up, the type of change I hope to see is that very idea actually being realized instead of just repeated. Let's all be Joans of Arc or Jersey Girls. Neither Obama nor McCain have the capability of saving this country, or even allowing it to continue on as well as it has. The responsibility and capability lie not in the Executive, nor the Legislative and certainly not in the Judicial branches, but in WE THE PEOPLE.