From Apathy to Extremist

The definition of apathy is lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference. What is important to one person might be of little importance for another. The other day one of my children needed a ride from the auto repair place. I had a City Commission meeting to attend which was important to me since the Commissioners appeared to be more concerned with lining their pockets and raising our taxes. Needless to say, my son thought I was weird. As I mentioned my son's response to my husband, my husband echoed our son. A year ago, I would have agreed with them. I was apathetic. I didn't consider myself that way. I would go out and knock on doors for Bush, man phone banks and do precinct walks for a candidate I didn't believe in so a worse candidate didn't get elected, lobby my politicians for bills that impacted me directly, but still I was apathetic. And it wasn't on purpose. I just didn't know any better. I didn't understand how important it was to keep track of elected officials was. An excellent example of this occurred at the above mentioned Commission meeting. When questioned about the nice compensation package they had set up for themselves, one commissioner responded, “We did this four years ago. Why are you bringing this up now?” We've let the fox guard the hen house too long and now the rooster is crowing.

Perhaps part of our apathy stems from a lack of understanding of the core tenants of our government. Many people are unsure as to what form of government we have. When asked, Nine times out of ten the answer will be, “Democracy.” Even if we answer the question “republic” we would be hard-pressed to define it. In a Democracy, there is no need for a Constitution, since the majority can simply change Law at a whim. In a Republic, there is a Law above the government, and in our case there is a written Constitution. The two aren't synonymous. It would be like comparing apples and oranges..or comparing Republicans view of a loose form of government and Democrats with their centralized view of government. In a republic, people vote for their representatives, but the state's responsibilities are limited because of their charter. In a democracy, the majority's power is unlimited.

The US Constitution was written over two hundred years ago and is one of the most influential, longstanding legal documents in existence. Its purpose was to protect our God-given, inalienable rights. This document was designed to keep the federal government small with its powers limited and well-defined. It was also designed to keep any one branch of government from having too much power. The powers between each of the three branches were balanced. The Executive branch of the government, made up of the President and Vice-President, were given the responsibility for enforcing the laws of the land, although they could choose not to enforce laws that the Legislative Branch passed. The Legislative Branch has a two-branch Congress-the Senate and the House of Representatives and they were given power to make laws. The Judicial Branch made up of the Supreme Court was given the responsibility to decide arguments about the meaning of laws and how they are applied. They were also to decide if laws violate the Constitution. Each branch has checks and balances from another branch with no branch having more power than another.

Many of us learned this when we took civics in middle school. We have done our duty as citizens by voting. We expect those we elect to conduct themselves in our best interest and the interest of our country while abiding by our governing documents. We don't check up on them. We trust them. Occasionally we hear of them doing something we don't approve of and we complain to our neighbors and friends. But we don't do anything about it. All the while, those we elected are becoming more and more disconnected from those they represent. They do as they see fit, regardless of what anyone says, even what the Constitution says. And we have let them get away with it. We have to hold our elected officials accountable and if they can't abide by the law of the land, we have a RESPONSIBITY to vote them out regardless of what their political affiliation

Many Americans are waking up to what is happening in our country. They are out in force educating themselves; finding out what our Constitution says. They are educating themselves on the issues and then making their views known. They are meeting with other who were slumbering and searching for ways to get our country back on track…back to the Constitution, back to the Republic and one nation, under God.

So here I am. I have wasted a lot of time being apathetic along with a lot of other Americans. We are done with allowing politicians a free reign. As our representatives, they are accountable to us and we will hold to that. We have gone from apathy to extremism. We want our country back and now is the time for us to take action.