Denis Grossen, Sartell
It has been said repeatedly, this November election is the most important ever. What is at stake, however, is the survival of a national structure based on virtues that have been, from the start, unique and different. The Founding Fathers produced a Constitution to empower individuals and give them the unique capability to define, limit and control their government.
America was founded to provide opportunities to individuals who believed in personal responsibilities, self-reliance and self-advancement – not to emulate a European model of government that keeps citizens in perpetual childhood. We have become too reliant on the state to provide and now calls are for even more state interventions: whatever is not forbidden will soon be mandatory if we accept a model of government that caters to victims in search of whom to blame rather than achievers who solve their own problems.
The very fabric of our country is in danger as for over a quarter of a century we have failed to protect the territorial integrity of the United States of America and enforce our laws. Immigration has been a pillar of building this country as long as immigrants were looking forward to embracing the American national virtues and rapidly get integrated into our society. With the ever-increasing flow of illegal immigrants solely attracted by easy financial benefits: free education and free healthcare. Then there are the fake asylum seekers. Economic hardship, domestic and gang violence are not recognized claims for refugee status under international laws. The cultural and historic bonds that united us as a nation are being destroyed. These illegal aliens do not recognize the sovereignty of our land and its borders nor do they accept our laws.
The brilliant system of checks and balances imagined by the Founding Fathers is crumbling.Congress has abdicated its power to legislate (mainly to big government agencies) and letting our democracy slide into a technocracy where so-called experts call the shots; the judicial system is populated by too many activist judges who create rights, not in the Constitution and not enough engaged judges who defend the rights found in the Constitution: the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The industrial revolution as well as globalization were economic phenomena that took place after the writing of the U.S. Constitution. However, the destiny of the U.S.A. was to become a beacon of hope for other nations based on moral principles rather than imposing its will and pursuing economic advantages by governmental intervention and military force. The concept of free-market was also essential and recent bailouts of banks and the auto industry have been sad deviations from this principle.
An exceptional nation with unique characteristics is in danger of extinction. America is on the threshold of becoming another western state with big government, a passive population in waiting for entitlements dished out by a central government, not what the Founding Fathers had in mind for sure!
