Posted on 07/04/2010 9:53:02 AM PDT by TheConservativeCitizen
As we celebrate Independence Day, I, perhaps like many others today, find myself pondering its significance. While many may be thinking back to the 1770s and the great many personal sacrifices and contributions American families made at the time toward the establishment of the United States, I have found my thoughts to be rooted in present times and, at the core, the seemingly ongoing trend away from independence.
I believe there to be a fatal flaw in today’s groupthink. The flaw may simply be that there is too much groupthink. For a country founded in the spirit of autonomy, it is interesting that “teamwork” is a term we are hearing all too often these days. Though the idea of teamwork may have been deep-seated with good intentions, what we’re seeing is a playing field where personal accountability and ideology is being stifled, absorbed and shared by an assembly, large or small, to the point where that accountability, and most importantly, any direction, is completely lost. The lack of accountability removes personal and global consequences. Some of you will read “consequences” with a negative connotation, yet, I would argue that the presence of consequences drives ultimate success. Consider the many positive consequences that resulted from the efforts of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.
But wait. The presence of consequences indicates the incidence of risk. Does it not? We all have heard the adage, “without risk, there can be no reward”. Yet, we move away from risk every day for fear of failure. And, as we do that, we also move away from the prize.
Today, we live under a belief system that tells us we must always compromise, and that we must be quick to do so. Is there not a point where too much compromise strips us of who we are? The signers of the Declaration of Independence battled each other for years before coming to agreeable terms. Yet, because each member had something vital to contribute and held on to those ideals throughout the process, what they came away with was something that has endured.
Right or wrong, we need to stand for our convictions. Let’s not just talk about it, but let’s be active. I’m not necessarily talking about political activism. I’m talking about life. Be passionate about life. Your life. Enjoy the freedom we have given ourselves. Allow others the freedom to be passionate about their lives and what is dear to them. Mistakes will be made, but the triumphs can be great.
It begins with each of us.
I propose that each of us take today, if only this one day, to reclaim our personal independence. Own this day. Make it yours and make it infectious. Escape the “machine” for a day. I imagine the sheer power of that in each of us could be astounding.
Listen to a critique on “collaborative learning” when using Everday Math - another adventure in disastrous “group think”. It's ALL about destroying genuine SELF confidence and destroying the INDIVIDUAL. This approach is COMMON in most schools today!
Listen and pay close attention to the comments by this weather person who went back to college for more math courses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI
NOTICE the curriculums she does NOT RECOMMEND.
"May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. . . . All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others; for ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollection of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them." - Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman, 24 June 1826, Ford, Vol. 10, 390-392
Today, a "favored few," "booted and spurred," and steeped in an ideology that is foreign to liberty, have seized temporary power in Washington, D. C. They must be reminded that "We, the People's" Constitution limits their power to ride, rough shod, over the Creator-endowed rights of American citizens.
The population of voters who elected them to power may fit Jefferson's description of those whose "monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves."
May we "refresh our recollection" of the Founders' ideas and give "undiminished devotion to them" on this Fourth of July!
Liberals love to group people together and cater to those groups.
The individual is the ultimate minority, special-interest group.
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