By: Rebecca Witherspoon, November 20, 2022 (updated January 31, 2023)
“It is human nature to stay where you’re comfortable. But, sometimes through a course of events, through a long train of usurpations, we have to become uncomfortable. Change will not happen without movement. And, when we’ve been sedentary, when we’ve been comfortable for a very long time, movement is uncomfortable. We have been training our generations in the wrong information about our government. We’ve been training them to be submissive and compliant to authority. We have forgotten that We The People are the rulers over government, and we have allowed government to be the rulers over people. If we truly want that to change, we have to stop looking for leaders and start BEING them.”
KrisAnne Hall, from her documentary movie “NonCompliant,” https://libertyfirstsociety.com/
Over the past number of years, I have become disturbed by a seeming lack of knowledge about our founding documents including the Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution, and our Bill of Rights (which just so happens to be the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution). Public education appears to be inconsistent in its duty to provide a common foundation of knowledge upon which our young adults have an equal opportunity to pursue the American Dream—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There are many explanations, some more valid than others, for why we have found ourselves where are are today.
Many citizens of these United States of America seem to no longer understand that the Constitution was written by We The People to clearly state what our natural human rights are and to limit our government from infringing upon those rights. We The People wrote the Constitution. Our government did not exist until our Constitution was written. The government did not “bestow” rights on We The People, but was rather created to protect the rights of We The People. The primary and most basic duty of the government of these United States of America is to protect the rights of the people. Unfortunately, too many citizens have forgotten this basic truth.
So, exactly what does the U.S. Constitution do? It
- outlines our basic human rights as citizens;
- formed a new and limited government;
- placed structure to and parameters around a newly formed government, including significant limits, checks and balances to slow and/or stop anticipated inevitable future attempts of governmental abuses of power;
- outlines the primary duties of our newly formed government, which primary duties were to protect the rights of the people and to protect our newly formed borders from threats by outside forces;
- clearly outlines those natural rights of the people that government is absolutely prohibited from infringing upon; and
- specifically reserves back to the people everything not clearly delegated by the Constitution to our government.
I encourage everyone to explore our country’s founding documents and to allow the clear meaning of words of those documents to illuminate the intent of our Founding Fathers. It’s time that We The People take back our inalienable rights and to hold our government accountable for the harm it has done to our country.
I am a wife, a mom, and a grandma, an outspoken Village Board Trustee where I live, a blogger/writer and sometimes vlogger, the owner and operator of a travel agency, an avid photographer, and a dabbler in graphic design and videographer. Oh, I’m also a former and now occasional substitute school bus driver, and in my “spare” time I work full time as a legal assistant. I love the music of the late 1960s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s—it really was the best time for modern music, despite that time now being half a century in the past. I love to read and watch movies. I’m passionate about maintaining a healthy, beautiful, and productive environment. My favorite thing to do is to travel the globe. And last, but certainly not least, I am an American Citizen passionate about the health and vitality of my country, and someone who believes that fighting to ensure our Constitutionally protected freedoms are no longer infringed upon is of paramount importance. In short, I’m you. I’m your neighbor. I’m your friend. I’m your relative. I like to think I’ve gained some wisdom through the years as a direct result of both my failures and successes. I’ve experienced fear and courage, grief and ecstasy, success and failure. I’m your average, ever-day American who is simply trying to live my life according to the same principles our Founding Fathers used to create this great nation—to live my life free to pursue happiness as I see it.
Musings By Rebecca 