Posted on 02/05/2012 7:32:41 PM PST by lyby
I am a 52-year-old mother of three children - a 24-year old grad student, a 21-year old college senior, and a 13- year-old 7th grader. I am a public school teacher of Math to 7th graders.
I am concerned about the welfare of our country, our Constitution, and the hope (NOT Obama's) for our nation. PLEASE help me to understand what is happening to our country.
I am dismayed by the garbage I am hearing and reading. I have been involved in local politics. I could NOT suffer the bullsh*t, so I resigned from the county Republican Executive Committee, after 5 years and two years on the State Executive Committee. Frankly, I do not come from, nor do I possess, the money that is necessary to serve in these capacities. I had visions, but those visions were naive...
Please help me to understand what it is that I am to do...
If you have nothing positive to offer, then DO NOT REPLY, as I am weary of folks who present a "better than thou" attitude and/or who think I am "a newbie".
I am searching and reaching out...
Sincerely,
lyby
Pray!
Thank you for that reinforcement! DAILY!!
Pray. Become self sufficient, get out of debt, and get to know your neighbors. Also, arm your adult children and yourself with self-defense firearms. Did I mention pray?
I will be back in a little while to see if you get any answers to your question.
Understand that a communist and his cronies are in charge and the repub rino’s are fighting against the tea party conservatives. The only hope is to fight hard for a conservative win against the commies and rino establishment. It is dire and Newt or santorum are the only two choices. Pray that Newt does well in the feb 22 debate and gets some momentum.
First: Get a good religious base in a conventional religion. God really is in control. He created the Universe and everything in it.
Second: Endeavor to persevere. Buy a shotgun. Learn to use it. Teach you children how to use it. Buy some supplies, get some cash in your hand. Make a plan with your children/close family what to do in an emergency. Be prepared if conventional services break down.
Third: Keep you wits about you.
May the Lord be with you
I am stocking up on my food supply. Most of the people I talk to are tired of the BS. Still plugging along. But getting ready. Getting ready.
Pinged you to a thread that will explain some of what is going on.
Thank you!
No debt other than our mortgage and the monthly utilities... Sons have college loans, but nothing that is not manageable, as long as they have jobs once they get out of college...
Arms - another story... none.
Self-sufficient?... we live in a city. we have family and land in another state, 500 miles away...
What Big redd said and arm yourself.
Ammunition may one day be worth more than dollars.
Things are still pretty good in America, and as long as it stays pretty good it will be peaceful,but when it gets bad really bad, Americans will start taking things into their own hands.
I’ve read some suggestions to your request and offer the following; First, get back at the grassroots level of your local Republican party. many of us face similar circumstances and it is easy, and part of the plan, to make things so disagreeable that conservatives abandon the Republican Party. Make the RINOs abandon the Party. Find conservative allies and make platforms part of your local agenda. Second, recruit like minded people to join you and/or run for office on the conservative Republican platform. If all of the above does not work or seem too complicated, than buy a few weapons while you still can, lots of ammo and stock up on necessities. You will need them.
True change will be bottom up.And hard. Very hard. But it will start with men and women of principle who know right from wrong. Like yourself.
The advice to PRAY was excellent.
Beyond that — you already have experience with your local political machine. You are ahead of the game. If your situation permits, get back into it. Let the BS roll off like water off a duck’s back. Persist.
Just my 2c worth.
God bless you, and FRegards.
I think you are frustrated because you are trying to effect to much change “all on your own.” You, by yourself, can’t change the world.
But you have a lot of influence on the LOCAL level.
I don’t know your exact situation, so I can’t be completely specific.
But for instance, your spouse. Take good care of them. Build them up in their role. Keep your family off welfare of all types.
Another example, your kids. Educate them WELL. Prepare them for a good and independent lifestyle. You know what they personally need to get there. Articulate that goal repeatedly, hold up good examples, walk the walk. Make sure they are oriented towards spouses of their own with the same values. Get them working and saving, etc.
Neighbors. Are their neighbors worthy of your efforts? Some kids who need attention? Some elderly that could use help with the trash? A handicapped person who could use a drive to the doctor? A lonely person that could use some kind company? Take the place of government programs. Set the example.
At work. Do your job and do it well. Articulate your personal philosophy without being obnoxious. Earn respect. You could perhaps advance in the teacher’s union and advocate for conservative political opinions.
Your parents. See to it they are taken care of and not wards of the state.
Your church. Participate. Whatever good ministries they are involved in, get involved.
Charity. Support a worthy one(s) like Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Boy Scouts, others that are not politically correct but are doing yeoman’s work.
The entire nation is changed by a million people doing just the above. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.
Read and educate yourself-—Read CS Lewis-—understand the nature of evil—evil which is always here—and the only way to combat it-—God.
Read Arendt’s books—read about Bonhoeffer, Winston Churchill, even Margaret Thatcher’s autobiography. Teach your children about the real heroes of this world-—Cato, Cicero, Thomas Reid, the Founding Fathers, or Sophie Scholl. Even Tebow. Moral character matters. God matters. Read “The Question of God” the book contrasting Atheism and Theism—the lives of Lewis and Freud.
Education— get rid of all the white noise—the junk-—the tv—newspapers—magazines—things which destroy knowledge and keep you from real education-—and wisdom.
Yes, there are some worthwhile movies: “Amazing Grace” which your children should watch and other wonderful productions. But be picky.
The only way to “fight” and “survive” is with knowledge and wisdom and God.
Keep abreast of things on FreeRepublic....and teach your kids and grandkids to do so, as well.
The schools, colleges and media in this country have been taken over by commies/marxists.
(I know-—I have a marxist sister who teaches!)
Best of luck to you and best of luck to Freepers-—
(I LOVE Freepers!!! Most are brilliant folks.)
Have your loved ones watch this:
Could you please direct me to that thread as well? Thanks!
Walk with God, be a good example to the kids you teach, recall that people before us have faced much worse things- a lot of them are resting in places like Arlington now. You put in some time as a leader and have done more than most. The truth is, you’ve discovered that politics is a nasty and brutish business- its always been. Take some time and live a bit before returning to it.
Your Samuel Adams quotation on your "about" page indicates that you read the Founders. As we do that, we learn of their reliance on Divine Providence. Sadly, those of the so-called "progressive" movement have censored the ideas of liberty from textbooks and public discourse. Technology has outstripped their efforts, however, and with the click of a mouse, we can rediscover and share those ideas with others.
Our written Constitution provides a formula which, if rediscovered by our youth, could help to restore and renew our nation's greatness, with the help of Divine Providence. The following is reprinted, with permission. Please share if you wish.
"The structure has been erected by architects of consummate skill and fidelity; its foundations are solid; its components are beautiful, as well as useful; its arrangements are full of wisdom and order...."
-Justice Joseph Story
Justice Story's words pay tribute to the United States Constitution and its Framers. Shortly before the 100th year of the Constitution, in his "History of the United States of America," written in 1886, historian George Bancroft said:
"The Constitution is to the American people a possession for the ages."
He went on to say:
"In America, a new people had risen up without king, or princes, or nobles....By calm meditation and friendly councils they had prepared a constitution which, in the union of freedom with strength and order, excelled every one known before; and which secured itself against violence and revolution by providing a peaceful method for every needed reform. In the happy morning of their existence as one of the powers of the world, they had chosen Justice as their guide."
And two hundred years after the adoption of this singularly-important document, praised by Justice Story in one century and Historian Bancroft in the next and said by Sir William Gladstone to be "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given moment by the brain and purpose of man," the Constitution of 1787 - with its Bill of Rights - remains, yet another century later, a bulwark for liberty, an ageless formula for the government of a free people.
In what sense can any document prepared by human hands be said to be ageless? What are the qualities or attributes which give it permanence?
America's Constitution had its roots in the nature, experience, and habits of humankind, in the experience of the American people themselves - their beliefs, customs, and traditions, and in the practical aspects of politics and government. It was based on the experience of the ages. Its provisions were designed in recognition of principles which do not change with time and circumstance, because they are inherent in human nature.
"The foundation of every government," said John Adams, "is some principle or passion in the minds of the people." The founding generation, aware of its unique place in the ongoing human struggle for liberty, were willing to risk everything for its attainment. Roger Sherman stated that as government is "instituted for those who live under it ... it ought, therefore, to be so constituted as not to be dangerous to liberty." And the American government was structured with that primary purpose in mind - the protection of the peoples liberty.
Of their historic role, in framing a government to secure liberty, the Framers believed that the degree of wisdom and foresight brought to the task at hand might well determine whether future generations would live in liberty or tyranny. As President Washington so aptly put it, "the sacred fire of liberty" might depend "on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people" That experiment, they hoped, would serve as a beacon of liberty throughout the world.
The Framers of America's Constitution were guided by the wisdom of previous generations and the lessons of history for guidance in structuring a government to secure for untold millions in the future the unalienable rights of individuals. As Jefferson wisely observed:
"History, by apprising the people of the past, will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views."(Underlining added for emphasis)
The Constitution, it has been said, was "not formed upon abstraction," but upon practicality. Its philosophy and principles, among others, incorporated these practical aspects:
Recognition that love of liberty is inherent in the human spirit.
Recognition of Creator-endowed, unalienable, individual rights.
Recognition that meaningful liberty is possible only in the company of order and justice. In the words of Burke: "Liberty must be limited to be possessed."
Recognition that in order for a people to be free, they must be governed by fixed laws that apply alike to the governed and the government.
Recognition that the Creator has not preferred one person or group of persons as rulers over the others and that any government, in order to be just, must be from among the great body of the people and by their consent - that the people have a right to self-government.
Recognition of human weakness and the human tendency to abuse power; therefore, of the need to divide and to separate the power granted to government; to provide a system of checks and balances; and to make government accountable to people at frequent intervals.
Recognition that laws, to be valid, must have their basis and limit in natural law - that law which, as Cicero wrote, "is the highest reason, implanted in Nature, which commands what ought to be done and forbids the opposite."
Recognition of the need for structuring a government of laws, not of men, based on enduring principles and suitable not only to the age in which it is formed, but amendable to different circumstances and times, without sacrificing any of the three great concepts of Order, justice, or Liberty.
Recognition that the right to ownership of property is a right so compelling as to provide a primary reason for individuals to form a government for securing that right.
Recognition of the need for protecting the individual rights of each citizen, rich or poor, majority or minority, and of not allowing the coercive power of government to be used to do collectively that which the individual could not do without committing a crime.
Recognition of necessity for incentive and reward as impetus for achievement and growth.
Recognition of the need for a "Supreme Law of the land" a written constitution which, consistent with its idea of the sovereignty of the people, would provide its own prescribed amendment process, thereby circumventing any potential unconstitutional changes by any of the branches of government without the people's consent.
The Constitution of the United States of America structured a government for what the Founders called a "virtuous people - that is, a people who would be able, as Burke put it, to "put chains on their own appetites" and, without the coercive hand of government, to live peaceably without violating the rights of others. Such a society would need no standing armies to insure internal order, for the moral beliefs, customs, and love for liberty motivating the actions of the people and their representatives in government - the "unwritten" constitution - would be in keeping with their written constitution.
George Washington, in a speech to the State Governors, shared his own sense of the deep roots and foundations of the new nation:
"The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition; but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period.... the treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labors of philosophers, sages, and legislators, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collective wisdom may be happily applied in the establishment of our forms of government."
And Abraham Lincoln, in the mid-1800's, in celebrating the blessings of liberty, challenged Americans to transmit the "political edifice of liberty and equal rights" of their constitutional government to future generations:
"In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the American people, find our account running ... We find ourselves in the peaceful possession, of the fairest portion of the earth....We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us. We found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. We toiled not in the acquirement or establishment of them - They are a legacy bequeathed us, by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic...race of ancestors. Theirs was the task (and nobly they performed it) to possess themselves, and through themselves, us, of this goodly land; and to uprear upon its hills and its valleys, a political edifice of liberty and equal rights, 'tis ours only, to transmit these...to the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know...."
Because it rests on sound philosophical foundations and is rooted in enduring principles, the United States Constitution can, indeed, properly be described as "ageless," for it provides the formula for securing the blessings of liberty, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquillity, promoting the general welfare, and providing for the common defense of a free people who understand its philosophy and principles and who will, with dedication, see that its integrity and vigor are preserved.
Justice Joseph Story was quoted in the caption of this essay as attesting to the skill and fidelity of the architects of the Constitution, its solid foundations, the practical aspects of its features, and its wisdom and order. The closing words of his statement, however, were reserved for use here; for in his 1789 remarks, he recognized the "ageless" quality of the magnificent document, and at the same time, issued a grave warning for Americans of all centuries. He concluded his statement with these words:
"...and its defenses are impregnable from without. It has been reared for immortality, if the work of man may justly aspire to such a title. It may, nevertheless, perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE. Republics are created by virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens."
Our ageless constitution can be shared with the world and passed on to generations far distant if its formula is not altered in violation of principle through the neglect of its keepers - THE PEOPLE.
Our Ageless Constitution,
W. David Stedman & La Vaughn G. Lewis, Editors (Asheboro, NC, W. David Stedman Associates, 1987) Part VII: ISBN 0-937047-01-5I feel your sense of worry and concern, as I’m the Mom of a just turned 18 yr. old high school senior girl and a 14 yr. old 9th grade son. I’ve never worried like this in my life before other than the usual, maybe more than the average Mom, type stuff. I’ve been feeling this for over 3 years now. This Spring, with tornadoes, we got to live first hand without power, with no stores, with no gas, no cell phones, no internet, no home phone and only the food in our refrigerator (which didn’t last long with no electricity) and pantry. We did have a radio. They had a news briefing every a.m. with the local EMA officials and the Sheriff who said you could use force, deadly force, to protect yourself and your property . . . as people were stealing portable generators, etc. since of course you have to keep them outside. If & when something happens, a major something, in this country, it won’t be pretty. One man who owned a convenience store/gas station was sleeping and someone broke in, he shot and killed them. All legal. But it will get U-G-L-Y when the time comes. Doesn’t scare me so much for myself as I’ve lived a good life, but it does for my children.
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