The United States of America though young by historical standards, is still one of the oldest democracies (an aside: in truth, we are actually a representative democracy. Read that “Republic”) in the world. I won’t say absolutely the oldest, but it’s close. As a country with such a standing in the annals of history, it is my belief that it is the duty of every citizen of the United States of America to participate in this great republic.
However, participation only goes so far. This country was founded on freedom. This freedom was based upon the fact that freedom is a gift of GOD, not the government. Sadly, in the years since the founding, the citizens’ view of freedom has changed. Once the view was that the government existed to preserve the “unalienable” rights of man (the general term applies here), and the citizens granted certain powers to the government to protect those freedoms. No longer. Now the predominant view seems to be that it is the governement’s perogative to grants freedom to the people. The emphasis has dangerously changed.