A remnant is what is left over after the task has been completed. For today’s discussion the remnant is what is left over after the larger portion of the people becomes dependent on the government for their provision. As accountable individuals, we are each responsible for our own livelihoods, our own safety and our personal security. Each of us bears personal responsibility for our actions, and we must answer for failures and errors in judgment. The remnant, as I see it, in today’s United States is not poised to restore America or to recapture the ideal that was advanced by the Founders. Today’s remnant must rebuild our nation…brick by brick, wall by wall.
Restoration is significantly different from rebuilding. Using antique furniture as an example, when one restores the piece, it may involve stripping the finish, replacing the upholstery, tightening the dowels, and finally putting everything back together with a new finishing. If the piece has rotted, however, or its structure has been compromised, then rebuilding is necessary. The builder reforms the new parts as close to the original as is possible, but the rebuilt unit will have more enduring structural integrity than if the original flawed piece were merely cosmetically refinished.
It has been 220 years since the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Since that time only seventeen additional amendments have been approved, but do any of you really believe that the basic structure of our government and nation has been limited to those twenty-seven formal changes? No, throughout our history and especially in the past century, our system of self-government has undergone radical change. In my view the gross distortion of our original concept of a free self determining society has been the product of three major areas: the people, career politicians, and personal perspectives.
Our citizens have become fat, happy, stupid and lazy. They are willing to allow others to make critical decisions for them, but willingly moan and whine if they find those decisions unsatisfactory. As long as the vast majority of the people lean on government and others, restoration is unlikely if not impossible. The bright spot is that if the people prefer to remain relatively unengaged, then an eager and committed remnant can rebuild the social structure when they ignore the moaning, whining, and teeth-gnashing of their fellows.
Career politicians are a serious barrier for those who wish to rebuild the nation. Their self interest and their instincts for self preservation would drive them to give lip service to a true rebuilding process…but only if they can foresee their holding on to the power and the perks. In many of my speaking engagements I have remarked that career politicians are particularly adept at jumping to the front of a parade. A rebuilding movement would attract the most opportunistic of the political class as they scrambled to provide their bona fides as true defenders of the Constitution and the people. In other words, they would lie….again. Their lack of principle and shortage of honor would drive them to become the face, the voice and the beneficiaries of the movement. For a rebuilding effort to succeed the careerists must not be allowed to participate in any meaningful fashion.
Perspective is probably the most difficult element to identify and to overcome. What are our attitudes about the role of government in our lives? Some of the most vociferous supporters of rebuilding will clamor for the restoration of their Social Security payments, or their agricultural subsidies…or their home mortgage deduction. Policies that have developed over the years as vote-purchasing mechanisms have been ingrained as “rights” by many of the citizenry. Many of the most ardent supporters for restoration or rebuilding will, nevertheless, expect and insist that their favored programs be continued. “I’ve earned it” will become the dominant cry in the rebuilding process. Their pampered self-interest will propel them toward “getting theirs,” even as they commend the Founders for pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Every recruit for a restoration or rebuilding movement must be willing to forfeit everything.
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