I’ve given a lot of thought to the words and beliefs of our current libertarian and Tea Party groups. And why wouldn’t I? After all, I grew up in a lower middle class home and I began working as a stockboy in a shoe store when I was fourteen years old. I paid my way through four years at Temple University. I paid my way through three years at Rutgers Law School. Some could argue that I am totally responsible for the life I have earned, and there are moments when I want to agree with this thought. But truth be told, while I can take a lot of credit for my successes in this world, the fact is I would not be where I am today were it not for the additional help of family, friends, and so many other Americans throughout our nation.
The list of those who have been there for me is long. My family may not have been anywhere near wealthy, but they were still able to provide me with shelter and food throughout those years when I was a student working my way through college and law school. Add to my list the people who built our roads, bridges and public transportation systems, the people who grow crops and raise animals in order to provide us all with the very necessary food, the people who join our military and place their lives on the line to protect us all, the people who become police officers and fire fighters and likewise place their lives on the line for us all; add all of this and more to my list and I am forced to admit that I have not been alone in creating my life. I have had help all along the way.
I think about the libertarian and Tea Party ideals and then I wonder about the meaning of the phrase “We The People” which is part of the founding of this glorious nation and I find myself taking a different tract from my libertarian and Tea Party friends and acquaintances.
I absolutely believe that each of us has a responsibility to carry our own burdens as well as we can. But for those of us who, for many good and valid reasons, are unable to keep themselves afloat in our national economic sea, I believe that We The People need to be there for each other.
For me, the bottom line is this. If we want to be the first and only great power on earth to succeed and to stay afloat in ways that none of our predecessors were ever able to do, we need, in the end to be a We The People nation.
The list of those who have been there for me is long. My family may not have been anywhere near wealthy, but they were still able to provide me with shelter and food throughout those years when I was a student working my way through college and law school. Add to my list the people who built our roads, bridges and public transportation systems, the people who grow crops and raise animals in order to provide us all with the very necessary food, the people who join our military and place their lives on the line to protect us all, the people who become police officers and fire fighters and likewise place their lives on the line for us all; add all of this and more to my list and I am forced to admit that I have not been alone in creating my life. I have had help all along the way.
I think about the libertarian and Tea Party ideals and then I wonder about the meaning of the phrase “We The People” which is part of the founding of this glorious nation and I find myself taking a different tract from my libertarian and Tea Party friends and acquaintances.
I absolutely believe that each of us has a responsibility to carry our own burdens as well as we can. But for those of us who, for many good and valid reasons, are unable to keep themselves afloat in our national economic sea, I believe that We The People need to be there for each other.
For me, the bottom line is this. If we want to be the first and only great power on earth to succeed and to stay afloat in ways that none of our predecessors were ever able to do, we need, in the end to be a We The People nation.
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