We the people…or aren’t we?
We are the people. We are the sons and daughters of liberty. We are the preamble to the United States Constitution. We are the Founding Fathers intentions, and we owe an obligation to uphold the tenants of their best objectives. On its face, the Constitution aims to deliver “domestic tranquility,” “provide for the common defense,” “promote the general welfare,” and ultimately “secure the Blessings of Liberty.”
“Blessings of liberty”; an undeniably fickle statement, and so fraught with altruism. It stands to be a beacon of light in a time that our nation is ever so divided. We need not be conquered by our deeds or the deeds of others. We are individually strong on our own merits, significant unto ourselves just as children are to having a genuine and overwhelming intrinsic value. We are not tainted upon the conduct of others, for we stand the right to make good on all wrongs; today and at this moment.
To be certain, we most definitely are human, and our egos seem to inflate and penetrate all of the various nuisances that are life. At work, at home, in the car, mowing the lawn, sitting in bed awake at two in the morning, walking the dog, waiting in line; our more savage-selves seem to come out in the strangest of times indeed.
Perhaps it was the former that led to the latter; when thoughts came to be, when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 forcing Japanese Americans to be interned. Maybe it is the ego that leads to the misgivings of what would otherwise be “good” men and women. Perhaps this was the result of a mind left to its own devices in a time of fear.
The promotion of our general welfare, of our common defense, and our domestic tranquility is more than a lofty ambition. Consider the makeup of America when this statement was written. Consider that in 1790, only three years after the Constitution was written that the US Census (or “Return of the Whole Number of Persons within the Several Districts of the United States…” as it was called) only included the following categories: 1) Free white males 16 years old and above, 2) free white males under 16 years old, 3) free white females, 4) all other persons, and 5) slaves. Was this the true make-up of the then 16 districts? Was this how “we the people” categorized human beings? All in all, we had roughly 3,890,000 souls recorded in that census.
We changed. We grew. We modified the concept of “liberty and justice for all.” We still do this today. I am still doing this at this passing moment.
To be stuck in my ways is a characteristic I can no longer afford. If you are like me, a writer of thoughts, dangerous and chancy but hopeful and optimistic, perhaps you too can take some time to consider the motivations of the inner-self. Let me list some of the demons that I fight: “Muslim ban,” “Native American sovereignty,” “Women’s rights,” “LGBQT rights,” “Black lives matter.” Do you see what these all have in common?
I didn’t until I wrote it out, thought it out, and looked back to the atrocity of man Ad infinitum.
It is akin to what Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” From where I sit today I recognize what I must defend; the opinions and rights of all those who are most oppressed. It is the gravely impacted that I must listen to. Shouldn’t I aim to assist those people for their causes which would ultimately ensure a “Blessing of Liberty” unto them?
As a citizen of the Republic, a state for which supreme power is held by the people, are we not all obligated to consider this option, to look to the minority? If it were not for the minority’s fight there would be no United States of America, slavery may have still existed, woman would have had no right to vote still, and on, and on, and on. Granted, some might say that they are being affected, and that it is their rights that are infringed upon by allowing acceptance of X, Y, or Z. This is understandable. No one wants to give up what they have.
After all we are adorants to our familiarities and comforts.
However, this is a line for which we must be willing to blur, cross, break, and obliterate. It is not in a separatist manner or mode that we should be inclined to dissent, but rather a recognition of our own humanity. We are no longer trapped in the past. The rhythm of the future, the syncopation of the American experience is powerful and overwhelming. We are the off-beat and unexpected result of a truly magnificent and idealistic endeavor. What we become has less to do with what our individual egos say, and more to do with our collective sound; like our own new age American Symphony broadcasted to the masses in high fidelity.
The fragility of the nation and our world is a result of despondency for which is honestly based on the rejected hopes of so many. Emboldened, the outliers of the nation (on all sides) have become forbidden to speak. The attempt to hold ideals true, and to “promote general welfare” has not lead to “domestic tranquility”; or has it? What if this is the best it has ever been? What if for all its misgivings we are now allowed the privilege of thought so far, beyond, and above the rest of time past.
Perhaps, without the struggle or need to fight, it has become easier and simpler to quiet one's voice. To shut-down and hide away for the long-haul seems to have become the new normal. We come to the voting booth to speak our minds and hearts, but we do not dare to engage in a discussion of the world as we see it, for that is far too dangerous.
If there ever were a time to engage and discuss, if they ever were a time to be safe in doing so, it would be at this very moment.
Are these just silly ramblings that I write on this day? No, yes, maybe…but now I know where I stand. I stand to discuss, to debate the merits of the case, not to deny one of freedom or feeling based on public sway, but to instead attempt to squash my ego and change my mind. Is it easy? No, nothing is easy about trying to be you, or me. We are terribly confused spirits trapped in a soul-sucking world that equates our abilities to raw and violent flesh-based desire. Somehow, we need to transcend that. Perhaps that is why the Founding Fathers wrote such an idealistic piece of literature and law, even though the times could yet to bare it. Strive high, find the best in those around you, make a case, and fight for those ideals which are true and need protection. This is the point. I believe this was their point when they wrote the Constitution; because we are the people.
