"Life Enhancements"

I received my copy of Internet Genealogy (Oct/Nov 2010) in the mail the other day.  On page 41 there is an article by Tony Bandy titled, "Get in Touch with Your Ancestors: Common-Place."  Family history is a passion of mine and I always enjoy the different genealogy magazines that arrive periodically at my door.  


So, I visited www.common-place.org and discovered that one of the sponsors of the web site is a University in my flyover state.  The web site is interesting and well done; if you love history, I  urge you to visit this site.


More importantly on this site I found a link to http://www.governmentisgood.com/index.php which bills itself as "an  unapologetic defense of a vital institution."  The  web site is developed and maintained by Douglas J. Amy, Professor of Politics, Mount Holyoke College.



It discusses why government is good and why we need government.


Government is good.  Government is not composed of space aliens from another planet.  The government of the United States is of the people, by the people and for the people.  To that end, we have elections every two years to choose human beings, citizens of the United States, to represent us on local, state and national levels.  


Yet, for the past decade, the negative comments about government, any government, have increased to a deafening roar.  The United States needs government.


If we didn’t have government and if we didn’t have taxes, how would money be raised to educate our population, build and maintain infrastructure, etc. 


Somewhere along the line, the word “taxes” has become a dirty word.  Perhaps we need to have a different word for taxes such as “life enhancements.” 


I urge to you to read http://www.governmentisgood.com/articles.php?aid=1&p=1

The article is titled "A Day in Your Life."  You can read it because, chances are, you learned how to read in a public school.  And your education was funded by . . . taxes.



And to quote two Presidents who were at opposite ends of the political spectrum:



“Taxes are, after all, the dues we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

and

“The taxpayer -- that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.”  (Ronald Reagan)

And thanks to www.common-place.org for having that link.  I didn’t know there was anyone out there anymore who held government in a favorable light.  Living in a flyover state, sometimes I wonder.

So get out there and do your job. Vote.  Nobody else can do it for you.  And if you don't vote, you shouldn't complain.  


And, remember, our democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people.  Corporations are simply set up to make money, to turn a profit.  Our democracy was created by American citizens for American citizens.  The government we have is the one we wanted.  It was not imposed upon us.  We are not USA, Inc.  We are fifty states united into one country.  I think sometimes we forget.