Trust me. We've all heard those words. We all have someone we trust, unconditionally. If they say they will do something, you can absolutely count on it. We've all had our trust taken for granted as well. Someone that we thought trustworthy let us down at a most inopportune time. It hurts. It is not so hard to build up trust, but it is extremely difficult to rebuild trust once broken. It's like bailing water out of a leaking boat using a bucket filled with holes. The only way to repair trust is to be trustworthy once again. Generally speaking, there is no way to rebuild it if it is broken a second time. The old adage, "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" comes to mind.
What is trust? It has been defined as the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something;Confident expectation of something.
The question has been asked, repeatedly, do you trust the government. It was first asked, at least in a scientific poll back in November, 1958, during Eisenhower's second term as President. At that point, it was about 73% positive trust. It is currently(and I think optimistically) at 26% positive trust. What happened? With little exception, one being the Reagan era, the other being the post 9-11 patriotic surge in general sentiment, the rate of trust has hovered right around 30%. This graph appears in a Pew Research study on the subject[1]
What happened is that we have been inundated with so-called leaders that have shown themselves time and again to be untrustworthy. Moral character has not been a prevalent trait in our leaders for a long time. We have had scandal after scandal, abuse of power piled on top of itself, self-serving, liberty stealing individuals have dominated the national stage, and as such, public trust has plummeted. Is this a surprise? It shouldn't be. The government is not working that "fool me once/twice" game on us anymore, they are working the "fool me as many times as you can and dare me to do anything about it" game, and they have it down to a science.
Our founding fathers knew that our government's ability to defend and protect our liberty was dependent upon men of character being trusted with the task. They said so often. They knew, as wise men before them knew, that power corrupts. They argued about it, they debated the solutions and they wrote mechanisms into our constitution to battle such corruption. The problem we face, however, is that the corrupt have corrupted the process and found ways to ignore and supersede the protections.
Alexander Hamilton, in January of 1790, said:
States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are respected and trusted: while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue an opposite conduct.
Fifteen years earlier, Samuel Adams said:
Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men.
Notice who he charged with keeping an eye on these scoundrels? You and I. We are responsible. While 26% of us seem to think they are trustworthy, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, 74% of us believe otherwise. It would be interesting to know the motivations behind those feelings of distrust. I suspect some of us "just feel" it. We need to be vigilant and stay on top of what is going on in Washington to the best of our abilities. We need to know how they have broken our trust. We need to share those reasons with others. We need to be careful though, we need research our facts so that when we are confronted, we can be sure about what we are saying. The danger of doing otherwise, is that we, ourselves, can become untrustworthy. For the sake of liberty, we need to be trustworthy.
There is a reason for the motto, "In God We Trust". He is the only one worthy...
It is that time of year when students venture into the first day of school in the classrooms of America, some for the first time, some for the last. Some are excited, some are nervous, some are scared and some couldn't care less. They are about to embark upon a year of learning. They may learn some incredibly valuable things over the next few months which will inform and direct their lives in a particular direction. They may learn some things that they never thought possible. They could learn concepts that send them in a direction towards the cure of cancer. They may learn that the guy two rows over that just stuck his tongue out at them will go on to be the best friend they will ever have. They may learn that with enough effort, anything is possible. They may learn that some people are just cruel.
There is no end to the possibilities. The future is an empty canvas, waiting to be filled with the most magnificent beauty imaginable. We can't teach them what to paint, only that painting is possible. We can't teach them what to see, only that they need to open their eyes and look. There are many things that we can't teach, but there are none that can't be learned. Let the journey begin.
History is filled with great teachers. We all have our favorites, those who reached us in a way that others didn't. Those who reached out to us in ways no one else tried. Those who understood their role as teachers and the importance of that job. That teacher in my life was a man named Tommy Esslinger. He didn't teach classic literature, American history, physics or some other subject thought to be "important". What subject he taught is largely irrelevant. What he taught was what no textbook ever included. He taught me that I mattered. He took the time to let me know he genuinely cared for me, not so much for what skill I learned in his classes, but for me, a fellow human being. He was not always the nicest guy. But he was always genuine. He taught me one other thing that I am forever indebted to him for. He taught me that it was OK to make a mistake or to fail, but it was not OK to let the mistake win. Tommy Esslinger was the favorite teacher of many students who came into contact with him. This is not by chance. Mr. Esslinger was a great teacher.
My wife and I debated at length about the education of our children. We finally decided that it was in their best interest to be home schooled. We are very fortunate to have someone in our lives who has helped us in this process, very fortunate. The things we try to teach them goes beyond reading, writing and arithmetic. We try to teach them everything that life will demand that they know if they are to be successful. At this point, the public schools here are not only abandoning those kinds of things, but they are teaching them things that are detrimental to that.
Samuel Adams, while Governor of Massachusetts, addressed the legislature in 1794. Included in his speech was the following passage: (emphasis mine)
It has been observed, that "education has a greater influence on manners, than human laws can have." Human laws excite fears and apprehensions, least crimes committed may be detected and punished: But a virtuous education is calculated to reach and influence the heart, and to prevent crimes. A very judicious writer, has quoted Plato, who in shewing what care for the security of States ought to be taken of the education of youth, speaks of it as almost sufficient to supply the place both of Legislation and Administration. Such an education, which leads the youth beyond mere outside shew, will impress their minds with a profound reverence of the Deity, universal benevolence, and a warm attachment and affection towards their country. It will excite in them a just regard to Divine Revelation, which informs them of the original character and dignity of Man; and it will inspire them with a sense of true honor, which consists in conforming as much as possible, their principles, habits, and manners to that original character. It will enlarge their powers of mind, and prompt them impartially to search for truth in the consideration of every subject that may employ their thoughts; and among other branches of knowledge, it will instruct them in the skill of political architecture and jurisprudence; and qualify them to discover any error, if there should be such, in the forms and administration of Governments, and point out the method of correcting them.
Show me a public school, especially one operating under the tragedy of Common Core teaching, where they will learn those things. Reverence of God? Love of country? Search for truth? I see just the opposite in many, many instances.
I have no doubt that there are many great teachers in the system, I know several personally. I am confident that they do all they can to influence the students in their class in the ways that the Tommy Esslingers of the world do. What I do doubt, is that they have the freedom to do so effectively. The education system, as a whole, is a huge funnel, directing as many students as possible in a certain direction. I am not comfortable with that direction. I think it is dangerous and counter-productive to the future of our nation.
I encourage you to research what your child is being taught, and how. Find out for yourself what is being splashed across your child's canvas. If you don't like what you see, do something about it. But don't wait too long, paint dries fast and they only have one canvas.
Thank you Mr. Esslinger for everything you did.
Audemus jura nostra defendere
We Dare defend our rights! This is the motto of the State of Alabama. Taken from a poem by Sir William Jones, an eighteenth century English philologist titled "An Ode in Imitation of Alcaeus", also known as "What Constitutes a State". In that, he declares:
Men, who their duties know,But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain,
Prevent the long-aimed blow,And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain
It seems to be somewhat more common recently to question anyone who would dare quote or base opinions on that tired old document known as the Constitution of the United States of America. We've heard such dependence on and adherence to called into question by legislators at all levels, the President, courts, up to and including the Supreme court and of course, the media. We've even heard them question whether or not the Founders really meant what they said when they wrote it.
I stand firm in my belief that not only did they mean what they said, but they were some of, if not the greatest visionaries the world has ever seen. They knew full well that we would encounter men who would make it their business to undo the freedoms that they expressed in their writings. The freedoms that Crispus Attucks, widely considered the first man to die in the American Revolution to Jamar Hicks, the most recent to die (as of this writing) in the ongoing war in Afghanistan, died for. The freedoms that roughly 2.75 millions Americans have died or been injured fighting to protect. The freedoms that have been and are now, systematically being rolled back, dismantled and outright abolished in many cases.
John Adams, a decade before the American Revolution, was already speaking of the necessity to defend our rights when he said:
Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.
James Madison, in 1792, said:
As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights. Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.
We own our rights and we have the right to own them! A couple of days later, Madison wen on to say:
Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government which impartially secures to every man whatever is his own
Our rights are to be protected by our government, not taken away!
There are so many wise words, far beyond the few I've quoted here on how important our rights are and to what extent we should go to protect them.
You often hear the question, what would the founders do if they were alive today. I don't think that is difficult in the least to answer. Just read what they had to say. They would do everything in their power, which is well laid out in the Constitution, to return our rights to us and return our government to us, as it was designed, not this aberration that we have lording over us today. More than that, I think that the task they would face would be far less than that which we face, because they would have never let it become what it has. One things is for sure, they would wholeheartedly believe in the concept of audemus jura nostra defendere, we dare defend our rights!
Sam Adams summed it up well in 1771, when he said"
The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.
Not only should we dare to defend our liberty, but we have a duty to do so. A duty! We have a call to be responsible with our liberty, for it is not ours alone, we share it with our fellow men. If one of us shirks this duty, it diminishes the ability for other men to fight for theirs! We are at a place in history where it seems there are more people who are denouncing their responsibility to fight for their liberty than there are those who are standing up for it. If this trend continues, we as a nation will lose the ability to stand up and proclaim, audemus jura nostra defendere!
I dare, do you?
