A Reflection Upon Current Politics

Recently, I checked out a copy of Thomas Paine's works: "Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings," and what I read utterly astounded me. For one thing, I cannot stand American politics; after all, what reason do I have to be positive at all? Every politician profits from their experience, and they all want something in return for their support. They call it compromise. I do not say that compromise is bad; however, compromise of ideals is alarming.

As a young kid, I took pride in my school work. It wasn't necessarily the work itself that I took pride in, rather it was the ideas that I picked up and fell in love with. True principles of liberty and capitalism enthralled me. America as it existed before its creation and during its creation seemed to be the purest form of liberty and capitalism--at least from my teenage perspective.

Can you imagine living in the time of George Washington, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and John Locke, among others? They were men among men, and yet what does the average adult even know about these people? What a bewildering thought to be immersed in the revolutionary time of so much independent thought. They envisioned a perfect society and endeavored to create it. What person today, who claims to be American, even knows one original idea or thought from these men?

I have no goal other than purity of American wisdom. I began to think of this thought as a seed of truth in a desert of insolence. One drink of attention, and the seed can grow roots. May the roots go deep, and may a tree sprout forth to encourage other young people and independent thinkers. I hope they refuse to sell their souls to the system, and I hope they consider the passions of our forefathers and rebuke the fallacies of the current system.

Thomas Paine penned at the end of "The Crisis": "So far as my endeavors could go, they have all been directed to conciliate the affections, unite the interests and draw and keep the mind of the country together; and the better to assist in this foundation-work of the revolution, I have avoided all places of profit or office, either in the state I live in, or in the United States; kept myself at a distance from all parties and party connections, and even disregarded all private and inferior concerns: and when we take into view the great work we have gone through, and feel, as we ought to feel, the just importance of it, we shall then see, that the little wranglings and indecent contentions of personal parly, are as dishonorable to our characters, as they are injurious to our repose."

When was the last time we saw a truly selfless politician? I cannot think of one. In fact, I shall delve deeper into this in another post, but it occurred to me that today's political system must be farcical with respect to the views of the Founding Fathers. Has it gone too far, and is it time to pull it back? More importantly, is it possible to regain the ground that we have lost? I do not know.

Today, politicians claim to be Conservative or Liberal, but what does that mean? No one knows what those words mean, and instead of the words being guide posts or navigational waypoints to ground their thoughts upon, the words find many different uses depending upon what the people who claim them decide to perpetuate. Conservatism versus Liberalism is a dueling game of capture the flag in which neither side admits defeat, yet no one gains absolute victory. Surrounded by hypocrisy, the establishment wraps itself in its respective Guide-on to serve its own self righteous purposes. I do believe Thomas Paine would host another revolt.

Thomas Paine knew the meaning of true selflessness. He marched with Washington's army in the dead of winter, and his strength of conviction carried him onward to a new beginning. He understood the meaning of sacrifice, and in his passage he made clear the importance of maintaining impartiality and of subverting self interest for the good of the country. He had no political rancor or personal mission other than securing liberty for a country he was passionate about. He implies that party politics, in his day they existed as Whigs and Tories, were bad for our nationalism because even back in his day, the parties sought to achieve political gain for their efforts. I suppose that since the dawn of creation, man sought in one form or another to gain power and influence, and perhaps it is our downfall.

I took great heart in the passage from Thomas Paine because it demonstrated purity of thought and purpose. In one fell swoop, you see the heart of a revolutionary man who put everything on the line for his country. As a true patriot, he gave up everything to serve a cause greater than himself, and while he wrankled feathers and uprooted institutions, in doing so, he assisted the creation of the greatest country in the world: the United States of America. We can learn alot from Thomas Paine, and we would be wise to remember him.