THE GOOD, THE BAD AND US

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it” . . . Thomas Paine

“What so many human beings in the modern world have failed to understand is that freedom is the greatest of all trusts” . . . Ashley Montagu

This Fourth of July weekend I had a number of experiences, one after another, the majority of which consisted of people talking about how bad the government and government agents are. I’ve been known to voice a similar complaint; with what I’m up against these days, I’ll admit – it gets discouraging, but what I’ve been running into goes over and above the normal grousing. A lot of citizens these days firmly believe that every level of our government is corrupt right down to the last man. I’ll grant that it sometimes seems that way, but only when you squint. Look again with open eyes and you will know that total corruption is not possible. The idea of it is a great excuse to sit back and do nothing; it absolves one of taking responsibility and stepping up to the plate, but like any excuse, it’s lazy, fuzzy thinking that can only do harm to our men of goodwill who are thereby rendered invisible.

Complete corruption is not possible as something that is rotten to the core can not stand. Fantasy stories create monsters with incredible powers that are nearly impossible to defeat, but there is a reason we call those stories fantasy. The truth is that people who live on corruption, lies and deceit have to surround themselves with others who are of the same mind and that leaves them with allies that cannot be trusted, hardly a formula for success. Any man of goodwill who is tricked into aligning him/herself with such people will quickly be weakened and rendered ineffective. These people are building on a compromised foundation with flawed material and in the end their products will come crashing down around them. Even if you left them entirely alone they would self-destruct due to the nature of what they have placed their faith in and who they have surrounded themselves with. The only reason to bother ourselves with such people is for the sake of protecting others who will be caught in the vortex of that downward spiral if it is left to run its course.

Even when all appears totally dark - a crusading politician of the people turns out to be a double-dealing scoundrel or a whole division of a police department is busted for committing terrible deeds - that is not a sign that all politicians and all police are corrupt. If these people have been caught, then someone did something to catch them and so someone is not corrupt. The time to worry is not when the papers are filled with stories of officials caught red-handed. The time to worry is when there are none. On that note alone, looking at the news lately, we are in pretty good shape.

So you can take that excuse for inaction and trash it! If you have an issue with the government, if you feel it is flawed then get your rear up out of that chair and do something about it – and “doing something” does not mean cussing out your politicians on general principle. Point out what is wrong, by all means; you know I do on a regular basis, but do not neglect to support men of goodwill who are fighting the good fight. They are flawed, yes . . . News flash: so are we all. But you are the foundation upon which this country is built and maintained. All these people who have stepped up to the plate in a very real way - whether it be through politics, law enforcement or the military - depend on our support and assistance. To sit back and declare that they are all corrupt, that the whole system is impossible to salvage does these people who are working hard to do the right thing an immense disservice. There are many values we have all been taught to live our lives by, but we need to add one to those: Do not harm a good man. We need every single one of them!