Disclaimer: The opinions and views represented in this blog may or may not represent the SLU College Republicans, or Republicans in general, as a whole.

I could make this blog into a book, thus launching my successful book tour and my eventual career as a political pretty-boy, but I think I’ll keep it short and sweet. Last week, the pet-project of all pet-projects passed through Congress with a close vote of 219-212. Yup. The largest political over haul since the New Deal got through by SEVEN VOTES. I could talk all day about how bad this bill is and how much I am going to miss America. Instead, I’m going to point fingers. Is it Bart “Sell my Soul for Executive Order Number Oh-Who-Am-I-Kidding” Stupak, and his strict party line vote in stark betrayal to the unborn children he so deceitfully said he would protect? No, liar though he may be. Is it Mr. Hope and Change himself? No. Is it Mr./Mrs. (I’m not so sure anymore) Nancy Pelosi? That one guy from Nevada no one actually likes? No. Not their fault either. You see, a political party, regardless of its genesis, stated intent or the wishes of its constituency, will do whatever it can to stay in power. For Republicans, this means scaring mothers, Christians and reacting with righteous indignation whenever Democrats come up with one of their kooky wealth redistribution schemes. For Democrats, this means buying off minority voting blocks, George W. Bush and subsidizing laziness and mediocrity because the lazy and mediocre are, despite constant protest from me, allowed to vote. Frankly, this kind of behavior is expected of people who were handed the seat of power in the most wealthy and powerful country on Earth; creating a massive new bureaucracy that literally puts them in charge of your life. That is power you can’t buy. Unless you’re okay with adding $1 trillion onto your national debt. So, we’ve established that the government behaves like an ignorant child and always wants more, more, more. You can’t blame an infant for crying and pooping its pants, so whose fault is it? Lift up your hand, put it to your face, and punch it as hard as you can. If it hurts, it’s your fault.

That’s right. What happened is your fault. All of the American people, who have become too lazy and apathetic to hold your politicians accountable. This is not a magic process. It requires work and attention and a true dedication to the democracy our forefathers crafted from the ashes of the Old World. They built, so that we may live with eyes open to the world, but we have been asleep for far too long. We are a product of our own success. The principles our country was founded on allowed us to grow and thrive beyond reckoning. The Christian principle of charity, so important to Americans, has been warped into a government mandate to redistribute wealth. The culture we have become a part of is a mixture of mainstream indoctrination, sedentarism, ignorance and a feeling of entitlement. I’m going to share a little secret: you do not deserve anything. You inherit the right of equal opportunity and nothing more. We lost our way when we forgot this, and decided to let the Nanny State take care of us. This Health Care Bill is just another step on the road to collectivization and the reduction of the individual to nothing but a series of social relationships and responsibility to others. Well what about me? What about you? If we continue to ignore our right to work hard and become successful without the interference of others, we will soon lose this right all together. This extends to actual vocation as well as government. A limited government is the key to a free civilization, and governments are like tumors; they don’t shrink unless you make them. Again, this is not the government’s fault. The government is not a self-aware organism with its own will and desires. It is made up of people, flawed individuals like the rest of us. The government we have today is a reflection of the American people. We have lost touch with our roots, and we are losing ourselves. The government is not large and overreaching because it wants to be. The government is large and overreaching because we have become too fat and stupid to care. We have set ourselves up in a perilous position, on the edge of history and anonymity, and we are a step away from falling.

So write your Congressman, call him/her until they have to rip the phone out of the wall. Talk to your friends and ask them this: “Do you want to work for yourself, or do you want to be forced to work for others, and have others forced to work for you?” If they answer with the latter, cease all friendship with them and tell them to get a job, because the hippy thing stopped being cool a while ago. Ronald Reagan once said that man is free so long as government is limited. What he should have said is that government is limited as long as man pays attention. This is not a difficult fix. We do not need a popular, Tea Party Revolution. We need a popular conscience based on principles of free enterprise, individual rights, common morality and human dignity. So when you read this new Health Care Bill, or die of some easily cured disease because the bureaucracy can’t do ANYTHING right, just remember that it is your fault. The fault belongs to all of us. But dry those tears, and put your pitchforks down. It is an easy fix. We all need to eliminate our personal sense of entitlement and popular laziness. Mostly, we just need to start giving a damn all the time, and not just when the government screws things up. Because that is what governments do; ruin the dreams of great men and women, destroy morality and increase their own power. The only thing that can stop them is an informed and active populace; something lacking in this country, something terribly wrong with this country. Next time you open your mouth to blame the government, take a moment and think of what you can do that moves past words. Then get up and do it. If not, you will be to blame for the collapse of this country as much as pernicious and ignorance-fed social liberalism espoused by our most powerful politicians. The solution is simple. Care. Care for the American Dream. Care for your friends and family. But ultimately, care about yourself as an individual, because if our government continues its current track, the individual stands to lose everything. And once we lose it, it isn’t coming back. I will not be moved, and I hope you will not either. God Bless America, and curse those who seek to destroy what it stands for, and those who refuse to do anything about it.

Our political system is truly the best in the world. At its core, the American system of government provides a backdrop on top of which the best of humanity may grow and thrive. But our system is being neglected, and left in the hands of the worst of our society. If our system is to survive, it must be tended to with love and dignity, and never again should it be so neglected. Never again should it be so abused.