Hobie Morris
Hobie Morris

COLUMN: Musings of a Simple Country Man

Is America’s revolutionary dream over?

By Hobie Morris

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund

Burke

“We didn’t pass [freedoms] to our children in the blood stream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on to them to do the same.” – President Ronald Reagan

This simple country man has some disturbing thoughts that our national government may be the single greatest threat to our democratic revolutionary heritage and future.

In their amazing collective wisdom, our Founding Fathers brilliantly constructed a democratic governmental system unrivaled in world history. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution very carefully and meticulously outlined the nature and purpose for this revolutionary governing experiment. And indeed it was just that: An experiment that could easily have failed.

At long last, there was a legal governing structure and underlying philosophy that elevated the common person to the highest level of importance. A system “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

It is well documented in our over two centuries history that the Founding Fathers ‘ lofty,   visionary objectives have continued to fall short of their expectations. Today American people have many unfulfilled and ignored grievances, as did the colonists in 1776. The grievances of the Thirteen colonies in 1776 were carefully enumerated and directed to the perceived arbitrary and unresponsive government in England. The Declaration of Independence included a specific plan of action if their grievances were ignored: “It is their [our] duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.”

This is clearly justification for revolutionary change.

My wonderful wife Lois and this simple country man enjoy meeting and talking with many Americans. We sense that a significant cross section of Americans is a largely unappreciated backbone of this nation – for the most part good, decent, hard-working people who daily struggle to make ends meet. But in this country’s great tradition there is no “quit” in them and they push on toward a tomorrow that they hope and pray will be better. Lois and I are amazed by the multiplicity of talents and common-sense intelligence that many of these people have. Despite this can-do optimism, we sense a deep unhappiness that our government continues to fail them in countless ways.

There is a common perception that America’s leaders aren’t truly working for the people’s benefit, happiness and well-being … that the leaders’ decisions aren’t directed toward the people’s common good.

We are seeing more and more examples of a repressive and sometimes violent government working in arbitrary ways against peaceful reform. We are saddened to see examples of more violence against citizens than criminals. At times, Lois and I are discouraged by the countless laws and Constitutional freedoms that are commonly violated by the people we elect. The list of grievances against our government continues to grow.

In our estimation, our government has seriously strayed from the carefully drawn road map of our Founding Fathers, a democratic dream of government beginning with “we the people.”

Millions of Americans have fought in wars and peace to uphold these noble ideals and revolutionary principles. Our government’s vital role is to protect our rights, not violate them. If our sacred Constitution is a mere piece of paper we will continue a rapid decline into authoritarianism where our rights will only be a destroyed dream. President Reagan’s warnings are indeed very applicable to what this simple country man sees today.

The revolutionary success of our forefathers is still deeply embedded in most American’s heart and soul. The dreams of our Founding Fathers must be kept alive. My wonderful, vivacious wife Lois and I will continue to try to do our part, however small it may be. We cherish our freedoms and we hope you do too. We all must keep in mind that no democratic government in the history of mankind has ever succeeded for any length of time. The odds are heavily against us. That’s why we must fight the forces eroding our system of life.

But these are only the musings of a simple country man living off the grid in the Brookfield hills.

Editor’s note: Hobie Morris is a Brookfield resident and simple country man.

By martha

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