http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/culture/activism/6150-tea-parties-then-now.html18 November 2010 Michael Hurd
There's no question the good guys can and should win. But will they?
In the past, it was the Boston Tea Party. This was a way for early American citizens to raise a ruckus against the oppression of the British Big Government. Ironically, those same Americans went on to create their own government, checked by a Constitution that would supposedly prevent the same thing from ever happening again.
And yet, it did.
Today's American government is just as bad as the British government that preceded it, and that gave rise to the American government in the first place. In fact, today's government in America is arguably even worse than the British oppressors of yesterday. The people let this happen, slowly and over time. The single biggest reason people let this happen is the entitlement mentality. This mentality can best be summarized by two emotions: One, "I must take care of others." Two, "Others must take care of me." Neither of these emotions, or the ideas underlying them, are fitting for a free people. Whenever these emotions, or the ideas underlying them, are dominant, you cannot sustain a free country, nor a reasonable society filled with self-responsible and forward-thinking people. The early Americans had had it with Big Government. But they were also the type of people who so wanted and valued their freedom that they were willing to live in a harsh wilderness, such as early America, rather than stay with the known and familiar comforts of the European homeland. Think of the type of people who so wanted their freedom that they were willing to do this, and you'll better understand why the original Tea Party happened, why the American Revolution enjoyed popular support, and why a Constitution based on limited government was a popular idea at that time.
Both of these mentalities are a far cry from the psychology and ideology underlying the first Tea Party and the original American Revolution. Because America was just getting started, and because the world had not progressed to a point where you could have the level of wealthy people you see today in Hollywood and Bill Gates, there were no compulsively guilt-ridden socialists to wield their influence. And because America was more of a potential -- a vast wilderness filled with promise and opportunity, rather than a place to expropriate and exploit, as it is today -- there was no basis for people feeling that others must take care of them.
I sometimes wonder if the America of 2010 is too far gone to even deserve salvation from what's destroying it within. It really boils down to who's stronger: The will of the people who believe in the right things, and who are self-responsible, or the nasty parasitism of those who feel entitled. There's no question the good guys can and should win. But will they? Do they have the courage and the strength required to rebuild a great country of great character? Politics will not determine this. Politics will be the consequence of how this question is answered.
Ken-G. Johansen.