Politicians or Patriots?Thomas Paine, revolutionist, writer, orator stated in his pamphlet, Common Sense on January 10, 1776, "We have it in our power to begin the World over again!", speaking of the convening of the second continental congress to change the way things had been done and to seek independence from Great Britain. In general, it seems that our leaders(and citizens as well) have lost that patriotic spirit: “to make things new again”. It is also true of every session of Congress today, that they have the opportunity, through their words and actions, to, in a sense, "begin the world over again", as Thomas Paine suggested in his publication prior to our independence. Yet, our leaders seem fearful now. Not afraid of losing their lives or placing at risk the lives of their families or fellow citizens through espousing radical ideas of government, as the patriots of 1776 did, but our politicians fear making a statement which, though right, may be unpopular, and may therefore jeopardize their political careers. And though their goals may not be completely wrong for our country, they are not devoid of personal or self serving gain. Their goals seem focused on securing public office and holding to that office as long as possible, by any means necessary, rather than fulfilling their roles as public servants. They have conveniently rewritten their job descriptions to include the tasks of getting re-elected and raising funds for their friends to be elected. And those tasks are not small. They seem to taint every decision they make, if not plainly impede the completion of their elected duties. It seems that they are working for their party rather than working for our country, the people who "sign their paychecks". And those two are NOT synonymous. Our lawmakers seem bound by their pride and their greed, bound by their desire for prestige, money and power, the very things actors moving to Hollywood could be accused of pursuing. Our elected officials seem more interested in maintaining a privileged lifestyle by pleasing campaign contributors than boldly stepping out for what’s right for our nation. They are all about preserving their careers rather than serving the public. I would fear what our country would look like if our founding fathers had had the attitudes of our government officials today. We all have the power within us to "begin the world over again" with every sunrise. It's not just the responsibility of our elected officials, for by their job descriptions, as I recall them being outlined by Coach Ivy in my 9th grade civics class, they are chosen by
us to only do
our bidding, to represent
us, "
we the people". It is also our responsibility, the common man, to not just pursue our personal goals to the detriment of our fellow citizens, but to view the common good as supreme. That is living in community. That is true patriotism.
