Rights and privileges

When James Madison proposed the 1st 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution (the bill of rights), they were introduced and ratified with the intent to limit the powers of the federal government. And now it seems as though people we want the government to do everything for us. In our country we have an overwhelming sense of entitlement. Young kids believe that they have the right to drive. People that don't work think that they have the right to welfare. We have confused rights with privileges, and many of us have abused our privileges. There our people in this country that criticize our government and disrespect our flag and their actions a protected by the very institution that they want to destroy. Politicians say that we have the right to health care but where do all of these rights come from? The Declaration of Independence states that we are "endowed by our creator" with certain rights, but they don't include driving or getting a prescription filled. If we need it we should be able to get treatment from a health care provider however we should not view these as rights because they are privileges. In the aftermath of recent natural disasters we have seen the backlash of angered citizens that criticized the government for their failure to respond quickly with aid to those who were affected by storms. There were people waiting, and waiting for the federal government to come to their rescue. What ever happened to be prepared? I work for a company that specializes in long term food storage. Everyday I talk with people who are taking responsibility for themselves so that they don't have to rely on the government to support themselves and their families. I don't know how we got to the point where we expect so much and expect to do so little, but we need a serious adjustment of our perspective. What happened to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country"? We need to stop deluding ourselves into believing that we deserve what we have not truly earned. We should not "wring our bread from the sweat of another man's brow."

Quote of the Day

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." -Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

I've seen a lot of these political advertisements that show both candidates making promises, spouting line after line of political rhetoric and I wondered to myself: "Can these guys really do what they say they are going to do?" In case you are wondering the same thing, they can't. The U.S. constitution gives the power to the Legislative branch (Congress) to raise taxes (Article 1, Section 7). So when we talk about the economy and things of an economic nature the president can't do as much as most people think he can do. So before we blame the president for our current economic status or before we lead ourselves to believe that a new president is going to significantly change our economic policies think again. If you really want some change get rid of you representatives in the congress, that's where we need the change. Now granted it's not as simple as that, but those are the basics as I see them.