Aren't Happy with Election Results? There's Something You Can Do!
by Aaron Simms: After every election, there's bound to be disappointment, but there's a path forward.
Yesterday's elections were a mixed-bag for everyone. Republicans held the Senate, Democrats took the House, various state offices split or flipped. This morning there are therefore likely to be disappointments on all sides.
Perhaps, though, this election hangover is a reminder to us that government should not be so powerful that we feel crushed if our side doesn't win. If we weren't looking for the government to do so much for us, then we wouldn't be so invested in getting our "side" into office so that they can turn the ship of state in the direction we want to go.
So, what can we do? We can work towards more Constitutionally-limited government. This really has three parts.
First, we can stop expecting the government to coerce people to do what we want. The Bill of Rights was meant to prevent this by enshrining in our nation's founding the concept that we all have certain unalienable rights which government cannot trample. The Constitution itself serves to restrain national government so that the people of this nation can remain free.
Second, we can expect candidates to do less to get government to give us something (normally in the form of taking from someone else or forcing someone else to do something for us) and expect them instead to work to uphold our Constitutionally-protected liberties by shrinking the scope of government.
Third, we can place the focus on competence with regards to candidates and government. Who can lead, and if not lead manage, and if not manage, then at least stay out of the way of private enterprise? The government should be in the business of enforcing contracts, providing national defense, and protecting life and liberty. Any time there "has to be a law," it should be in the realm of these Constitutionally-mandated missions. We should mourn every time the government is given more power to do something, because it is very difficult to ever take that power away from it again. Perhaps it would help if we viewed government more as an irresponsible, spoiled child, rather than as our savior.
This is a hard road to go down, though, in our present political climate. We have devolved to a type of high school election where the candidate who is the flashiest or who promises the most stuff can garner votes. We can only break out of this cycle if we stop rewarding this type of candidate with our votes and reward instead the type of candidate who will tell us that government can't do it all and that the government didn't build this nation, that our people did and formed the government to safeguard what they had built.
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Aaron Simms (simmswrites) is an author, writer, pastor & contributes to The Resurgent.
Tags: Election Results, Something You Can Do, Aaron Simms, The Resurgent To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Yesterday's elections were a mixed-bag for everyone. Republicans held the Senate, Democrats took the House, various state offices split or flipped. This morning there are therefore likely to be disappointments on all sides.
Perhaps, though, this election hangover is a reminder to us that government should not be so powerful that we feel crushed if our side doesn't win. If we weren't looking for the government to do so much for us, then we wouldn't be so invested in getting our "side" into office so that they can turn the ship of state in the direction we want to go.
So, what can we do? We can work towards more Constitutionally-limited government. This really has three parts.
First, we can stop expecting the government to coerce people to do what we want. The Bill of Rights was meant to prevent this by enshrining in our nation's founding the concept that we all have certain unalienable rights which government cannot trample. The Constitution itself serves to restrain national government so that the people of this nation can remain free.
Second, we can expect candidates to do less to get government to give us something (normally in the form of taking from someone else or forcing someone else to do something for us) and expect them instead to work to uphold our Constitutionally-protected liberties by shrinking the scope of government.
Third, we can place the focus on competence with regards to candidates and government. Who can lead, and if not lead manage, and if not manage, then at least stay out of the way of private enterprise? The government should be in the business of enforcing contracts, providing national defense, and protecting life and liberty. Any time there "has to be a law," it should be in the realm of these Constitutionally-mandated missions. We should mourn every time the government is given more power to do something, because it is very difficult to ever take that power away from it again. Perhaps it would help if we viewed government more as an irresponsible, spoiled child, rather than as our savior.
This is a hard road to go down, though, in our present political climate. We have devolved to a type of high school election where the candidate who is the flashiest or who promises the most stuff can garner votes. We can only break out of this cycle if we stop rewarding this type of candidate with our votes and reward instead the type of candidate who will tell us that government can't do it all and that the government didn't build this nation, that our people did and formed the government to safeguard what they had built.
-----------------
Aaron Simms (simmswrites) is an author, writer, pastor & contributes to The Resurgent.
Tags: Election Results, Something You Can Do, Aaron Simms, The Resurgent To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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