"Paths fraught with danger!"

In a perfect world one might expect voter participation in our rapidly approaching November 05, 2024 General/Presidential Election to be unfailingly restricted to and fully exercised by “all” eligible-to-vote U.S. citizens . . . each rationally casting fact-based votes with “overall” best interests of our precious country selflessly and uppermost in mind.

However, history attests that, in absence of such perfection, our elections will continue to include a mixed bag of human-rooted flaws and counterproductive behaviors. Such as: ignorance, apathy, complacency, denial, intimidation, greed, and corruption. As in turn candidates of all political parties continue to seek and/or retain positions of power and influence by promising an ever-growing array of so-called “free stuff.” Too often taking our country down paths fraught with danger.

Paths possibly best symbolized by the following scenario; one of questionable origin and for years accessible through an array of Internet sources and other media: “The Life Cycle of a Democracy: A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It will continue until the voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that point on, the majority will always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. Eventually every democracy will collapse, due to loose fiscal policy, and be followed by a dictatorship. From the beginning, the greatest civilizations of the world have only lasted about 200 years, and have always progressed through the following sequence: From—1. Bondage to spiritual faith; 2. Spiritual faith to great courage; 3. Courage to liberty; 4. Liberty to abundance; 5. Abundance to complacency; 6. Complacency to apathy; 7. Apathy to dependence; 8. Dependence back to bondage.”

Regardless of origin, little mindful consideration is required to note some unsettling similarities of above scenario to various actual aspects of our country’s status and direction. Such as: an out of control $35 trillion national debt; agendas contributing to more and more “dependents” relying upon the government for every want and need; and elected representatives and government bureaucracies more focused on “staying in power,” “keeping their jobs,” and “promoting their personal interests and ideologies” . . . rather than addressing the best interests of our country as a whole.

And it is to our demise that we ever assume our past/present liberties and freedoms are “forever givens,” and forget that our exercise of such relies upon our truly special form of government. Not a “pure democracy,” which can result in mob-rule and tyranny-of-the-majority and where fifty-one percent could take away the rights of the other forty-nine . . . but rather, a first and to date one-of-its-kind “constitutional republic”! Governed by its citizens through three separate but equal branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial. Where, through the experience, insight, and great wisdom of our country’s founders, “sovereignty” deliberately rests with “we the people”! . . . That is, at least thus far it does?

                                                             —William James Moore