We Live In An Exciting Age

Several years ago, I read Capitalism and a New Social Order: The Republican Vision of the 1790's. The book so influenced me because I saw in history a fresh, invigorating vision for the future. We live in an exciting age, but to make these ideas work we must remain steady. We must keep our eyes set on the shining city on the hill, as we continue the path through the foothills singing Psalms of Ascent as we journey to the city of God.

In the 1790's the Federalist Party felt entrenched in a position of power. The elected officials felt it was their responsibility to explain the meaning of the Constitution to the people. The Federalists believed the Constitution to be flexible in regards to the power of government rather than for limiting government power over private citizens. Granted many of the elite had actually written the Constitution, but an attitude of superiority can accompany the desire to teach. Any university student can recall at least one arrogant professor during their scholarly journey.

Just because the people loved George Washington dearly, that did not make him infallible in their eyes. In two cases, the Washington administration was taken aback by the murmuring of the common citizen. The first is known today as The Whiskey Rebellion. Western settlers resisted an additional tax on the whiskey they made from the corn they were unable to get to market. The whiskey was easier to ship to market and they felt the tax was discriminatory toward their personal entrepreneurship in making a useful product rather than suffer a commercial loss. The second reaction came when the citizens were berated for their resistance. This further revealed the mindset of the Federalist elected elite, angering the common man even more.

That generation, having lived through the violence of the Revolutionary War, was not interested in recreating the same system of elitism they'd just rebelled against. Shifting to today, the comparison with the elitism of Democrat leaders, and their disconnect to the common man, could not be clearer. Remember that the generation that preached to us for years this mantra of peace, love, and tolerance gave us The Waco Tragedy.

It is an exciting time when two very clear and divergent visions for the future of America are being debated. The Republican Party platform has the best vision of fostering individual freedom along with a clear interpretation of the War on Terror. Yes, the Republican Party has some entrenched elitists far more comfortable with their Democratic opposition than with the great unwashed rabble whose votes they need to be elected. Well, that seems like an easy problem to solve as Republicans mark the final reign of Arlan Specter (R- PA), John Warner (R-VA) and John McCain (R-AZ). Like the ever-knitting Tale of Two Cities character Madame Dufarge, the jackalope has her list.

Republicanism's civic virtue is fueling alternative media such as talk radio, Fox news, and the rough and rowdy internet. Republicanism is the natural defense against an over-zealous authority. Every time the Democratic Party presidential candidates explain their fascist views of government control of a private industry like Health Care, the Republican Party is clearly the only choice for those interested in self-determination and liberty.

So vociferous was the argument between the Federalists and the newly formed Republican Party that the Federalist Party eventually ceased to exist. A new course of liberty was set and the new nation separated itself from European-style monarchy. Today, the argument between Democrats and Republicans is also vociferous. Democrats, like their Federalist predecessors, blame the citizenry of being too ignorant, and seek to silence their detractors.

If we remain true to the republican ideal of civic virtue and support our candidate for President, re-elect the worthy, and replace the entrenched, it is possible to send the Democratic Party and its socialist and fascist ideas—the negation of the individual—to the ash heap of history. We must vote at all cost; because civic virtue requires that we do the best a flawed human can do for the future of the republic. This is no time to "go wobbly" because as Margaret Thatcher also said:

Europe was created by history; America was created by philosophy.

We live in an exciting age!