I recently discovered that Harry Truman was President when I was born. I always thought it was Dwight D Eisenhower, but he was not in office until 1953. That was a time before interstate highways. ZIP codes did not exist until 10 years after that. The world was small. Everything was about the local neighborhood. It was a big deal to go for help more than 10 blocks from the family home (police, fire department, etc.). If there was a big problem in the community, citizens went to the County-Seat officials for help. Rarely did people go all the way to the state-level. I hardly knew about a governor until Ronald Reagan because California's leader in 1967. That was noteworthy because he was a movie star and everyone knew him. Nonetheless, government was smaller in those days. Even though I was just a kid I can honestly state without equivocation that people handled their own problems and did not look to Uncle Sam to manage their lives.
Fast forward to 2013.
Today we not only go beyond the 10 block neighbor perimeter for government services but it seems like everything has a paper trail that is processed 2000 miles away from my house. Washington DC. We don't gather in a family living room to talk about issues and solve problems between friends and families in a local area. Instead we are resigned to having some faceless person in the nations capital make decisions that affect our lives, our faith and our families.
This includes
- not only how our children and grandchildren are educated - but what they are taught (not the facts that I know)
- emergency response protocols (instead of neighbor helping neighbor responses require FEMA support)
- personal recreation and public parks (subject to fees and regulatory requirements)
- safety and protection (based on the judgments of people who don't want what I want for my family nor the world)
- ability to provide for our families (controls on business smother commerce)
- defining what a family is (how did the government get involved in something so personal)
(blog followers, add to this list, as you will)
There is a natural progression in society. I get that. It was during my youth that the first astronaut went into space. Things have changed. I am not against progress. In fact progress is an argument for maintaining a focus on a single unit. The point is, that we are not just a few houses in a subdivision any longer. We are part of a universe. But ---- the bigger our space the more vulnerable we are to having our voices silenced.
I want my voice to direct my own life and not be subject to a shouting proclamation that goes against my values. Who is to blame for this void? The administration? Congress? SCOTUS? Or all of the above?
You tell me.
Signed:
Smaller is better
