The government wasn’t designed to help you.

03 November 2009. I threw on a suit and was off to the polls to vote in the midterm elections. My father always dressed up to vote and so I follow in the tradition. There is something special about election Tuesday. It could be the trees changing colors or the cool fall breeze. It might be the adrenaline rush of patriotism that rushes through my veins. I am fulfilling my civic obligation to this great nation, and amongst the growing apathetic masses, I am distinguished. Voting has always been a serious issue for me because people sacrificed their lives (and are continually doing so) that I might have this right. It is my tribute to them. To not do so would dishonor their memory.

The previous election prior to this Tuesday was the historic election of Barack Obama. It was quite the spectacle seeing so many people out to vote. I waited nearly 20 minutes to vote, which in the small suburban town in which I reside was quite a significant amount of time. Fast-forward back to this fall’s midterms. Walking into the polling center, passed the placards in the lobby, much to my chagrin, there was only one other voter present. With a wry smile, I greeted the attendant and jokingly asked if it had been a slow day. She replied, “this has been our biggest rush.” Those words have resonated with me since then.

I couldn’t understand why such fervent consideration and participation was put into the voting process of a presidential election, yet such lackluster effort…. exuded when it came to local officers, representatives, and councilmen. I stood there flummoxed that one would care to elect a president that has diminutive power or authority over their individual lives, yet, for example, fail to show up to the vote for the school board, of which presides of their own children.

It’s time for America to wake up and realize that the federal government was not designed to help you! There, I said it! Aside from maintaining national sovereignty through national security and intelligence programs and defending us from invasion, the government only exists to guarantee “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The word that is often lost in the aforementioned phrase is “pursuit.”

The presidential elections are the last elections we should be concerned with. We’ve become so detached from our own neighborhoods, townships, and counties that we’ve lost sight of our humble beginnings as a nation. We need to revisit the colonial times previous to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Here’s a quick little history lesson: At the time, there were 13 states, but not states as we have today. Each state was a sovereign entity which had its own government, currency, and militia. Each state looked after its own people because there was no centralize federal government to bail them out. It was the duty of the elected officials to ensure the common wealth of those in their domicile. Hence, this is why I’ve always preferred the term “commonwealth” rather than “state” because it more clearly describes the function of the entity. “State” and “commonwealth” are interchangeable now (unless you are in Virginia; chastisement will occur if you call their home “state of Virginia”).

It’s time to start caring about our neighbors and those closest to us because those are the people who affect our everyday lives, not George W. Bush or Barack Obama. Take time to consider who is running for police chief, coroner, mayor, etc. Making sure you stay informed to the decisions the school board is making and hold them accountable when they falter.

With the Olympics just ending we saw a lot of patriotism (which is awesome). Chants of “USA, USA, USA,” “Proud to be an American,” and “F*** Canada” filled the winter sky for a fortnight. There is something amazingly patriotic and moving about telling our nation’s hat to go fly a kite.

As much as we care about this nation we should care about the states, counties, townships, cities, and towns sui generis. Every state should boast of their unique greatness, not just Texas, New York, and Virginia. I should here chants of “North Dakota Pride,” although I’m still unsure if people actually live in North Dakota or if it’s just a buffer to Canada.

My views on domestic policy mimic my views international policy. Change and influence starts from the bottom. If we have strong people (which America has), we will have strong households. Strong households lead to strong neighborhoods which lead to strong counties and states. Strong states lessen the demand for a large government which, in turn, frees up federal funds to help those in the world that don’t have the resources to pick themselves up.

Ronald Reagan was on to something when he said, “government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem.” Over the last 100 years, the people of the United States have grown accustomed to breastfeeding off the nipple of the federal government and we’ve forgotten the simple idea that a “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” It’s been nearly seven score and five years since Lincoln stood on that Pennsylvania field, but it still rings true today.

Don’t put your faith in Washington, trust God and the people around you. The American spirit lives in the halls of school buildings, the fields of farmers, and in entrails of factories, not in the halls of Washington. The people of the United States created this mess; not Wall Street nor the big, bad banks. It’s time we owned up to our mistakes. We lived outside of our means and we got burned. It happens. We can help ourselves faster than Washington can.

More on this to come…