Who Are We?

Who are you?

Who are you?

To some, you may be a spouse, a co-worker, a best friend. You might be the life of the party, or you might be the party-pooper. You might be a teacher. You might be a boyfriend or girlfriend. You might be a mother, a father, a brother or a sister.

For some, when they hear your name, they smile because of some inside joke you two had eleven years ago. For others, when they hear your name, they laugh because of the stellar job you did in the school play when you all were in high school. For still others, hearing your name might make them think of certain qualities. Are you strong? Are you fearless? Are you daring? Are you spontaneous or shy? Are you athletic or are you a couch potato? What are your favorite TV shows? What music do you listen to? Are you tall or short? Sarcastic or literal? Do you have a great sense of humor, or are you one of those people who is completely socially inept? Are you a good cook? Do you have a lot of friends, or not so many? What do you and your friends do together? What are your ambitions, your hopes, your wishes, your dreams?

No one cares.

Not as far as the government is concerned, anyway. To them, you're just a number.

It wasn't always like this, here in America. But today, the government is huge. And that’s why they have such control over us. That's why they can label us with numbers and tax us out of existence without ever knowing our names (among other things): because America’s debt and its government are both spiraling out of control. We, the people, have less power than we realize. And that, too, is part of their plan.

America's original plan goes by the name of ‘The United States Constitution.’ And I believe that this plan is what will restore America to its former glory. This plan is the future, if we act in the present. I hope this plan will be in the history books fifty years from now: how America returned to the founding principles in the Constitution. We are the history of America. In order to understand the monstrous task in front of us, we must understand our past counterparts, and how they completed this task, not really that long ago.

America was founded because the government currently in place was too oppressive to the colonists, and they were not represented. We fought a war for America against the strongest army and navy on Earth with inexperienced, uneducated militiamen and won. America was founded because all of those people believed in something better.

We signed a Declaration of Independence. Of freedom. I believe that the Declaration was as much written for the people of that time as it was for the people of this one. The Founders signed that document because they wanted to ensure freedom for their generation from Britain, and freedom for future generations from any oppressor, abroad but especially at home, that would stand in the way of freedom. In short, the Founders knew that men could not resist the idea of power, neither then nor now. But they also knew that men could not, when it came down to it, resist the ideas of hope and justice and freedom, either. And it was those ideas that America was founded upon.

According to the Declaration, we have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the government enforces those right with our consent. The consent of the governed. It all circles back to us, because we are the ones who fought that war. We are the ones who tasted the sweet blood and sweat and pain and fear and triumph of freedom. When it comes down to it, we are the ones who wrote the Constitution, who wrote America’s story. We, the people.

Sadly, however, we, the people have allowed government to grow more powerful than the Founders ever intended. Thomas Jefferson warned, "Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories." The people are the only ones who can keep America alive. And we have slipped from our watchfulness. Those who watched our watchfulness chose that moment to strike, and once they did, there was no going back. This brings me to my second point: a more recent and more disturbing history of the United States of America.

It is arguable when it began. In my opinion, it began with the Great Depression or, rather, our response to it. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded with what he called a “New Deal” for America. It was definitely new, because we had never been introduced to anti-Americanism before. And it was definitely a deal, but not for us. For the Progressives.

FDR took advantage of the crisis by ushering in a new era of reforms aimed at combating the crisis on the surface, but in reality aimed at nothing more than expanding the role of government. The government was allowed to reach into every facet of our daily lives, under the guise of "protecting us from another Great Depression." Maybe these reforms would be acceptable, even beneficial, had they been repealed as soon as the Depression was over or it became clear they were not producing the desired effects. But systems like Social Security still exist today.

Why is this bad? Because Social Security is a Ponzi scheme doomed to fail. The system is bankrupt. It was only put into place to give the government even more intrusive rights to your money and your information. Didn’t believe me earlier when I told you you were simply a number? You have a Social Security number, don’t you? That’s all you are to them.

According to Reuters (which cited a Treasury report), the national debt is projected to be $19.6 trillion 2015, about a $5 or $6 trillion increase. What could the government possibly be doing that would require an almost 40% increase in the debt in just a few years? Being way too powerful. That’s what.

But what can we do? I'll show you. Even though the Founders already did that themselves.

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government," says Thomas Jefferson. So, what must we do? We must aim for a wise and frugal government. We must elect people not based on the letters next to their names, but the truths in their hearts. We must be frugal, and not spend more than we need to on earmarks, on extravagant and irrelevant proposals. We must not take from those who have earned. No Robin Hood-style government. Welfare programs are to be reserved for extreme cases if they are used at all, and in those cases, to be used temporarily. We must not tax people out of existence. A small government will not require a large tax revenue.

A small government does, however, require the will of the people to sustain and restrain it, for people to speak up. Because, as Jefferson states, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

I believe America is full of people of good conscience. Silent people. Oppressed people. People of good conscience who have been silent and oppressed long enough. Vote. Protest. Be heard.

I ask you again, as I did at the beginning of this post: Who are you?

Jefferson answers, "Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you."

And if you act on what I have said here today, you will be defined, maybe even in the history books, as America.

Life As We Know It... Or Don't

Life. What does that even mean, anyway? People walk around saying, "I hate my life" or "I love life" or "Life is good" or "Life is tough." But what, honestly, does that even mean? Sometimes I think we don't give half a thought to the words that come out of our mouths. (In fact, I'm sure--have you listened to the Democrats [and Republicans] lately?)

But honestly, when the word "life" passes our lips, do we even realize what we're saying? Do we have any idea that we're invoking the most precious, most fragile miracle of the known and unknown universe? Do we realize how we take it for granted every day?

We don't. Or else I wouldn't need to ask.

In Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to, of course, participate in the March for Life, a Vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and a youth rally held at the D.C. Armory Stadium. I haven't felt so truly alive in a long time. It's only when you're fighting for life when you realize how truly amazing it is, this glorious prize you're fighting for.

At the Vigil Mass, if we weren't all Christian there would have been brawls breaking out everywhere over floor space in the CRYPT--two hours before the Mass even started. That's how crowded it was. Crowded with thousands upon thousands upon tens of thousands of people who were there to fight for the pro-life cause.

There's that word again. Life.

At the D.C. Armory Stadium, there were TEN THOUSAND young people like me there. At the other session held at the Verizon Center, there were twenty thousand. Thirty thousand young people amassed in the service of a single cause: life. When everyone started singing and doing the hand motions to "Awesome God," it was like looking out at a sea of people. A sea of life. What else could it be? I've never, NEVER felt more alive than I did at that rally, at the Mass, at the March.

It makes me think of all those people who wander around searching for the meaning of life, when they should be just living. That's the meaning of life. Life is one of the most simple, profound words in the English language. Its meaning is itself.

At the March for Life... Well, obviously that was one of the greatest things I've ever experienced in my life. Half a million people or more, all gathered in our nation's capital for a single purpose: life.

Honestly, I can't think of a greater cause to support. Life. Simple. Profound. Beautiful. Why wouldn't you want to support life?

Because we don't understand what it truly is. Because it's become so easy to rationalize. Because it's something we take for granted. Because it's something we put labels and price tags on, when in reality, all life is universal, and all life is priceless.

Fifty million. Fifty million souls. Gone, since the legalization of Roe v. Wade almost forty years ago. But I hate the number 50 million. Why? Because it's a statistic. And these lives must be known by more than just a statistic. They must be known as people, each individual one, each member of the 50 million.

When we acknowledge that life is life, that life is precious, that life is a miracle, that life is a right that no one has the right to take away from anyone else, only then can we begin to live.

If we can't live, we're somewhat screwed, so I suggest we start very soon.

50 million. Imagine everyone you know, wiped off the face of the Earth. Fifty million. What if we randomly selected 50 million members of the U.S. population to be annihilated (we really do this)? That's 16% of the population, or about one in six people. Your chances of being killed? One in six. Scared?

It's a lot scarier when it's personal. When it's you whose life is hanging by a thread (or an umbilical cord). Here's a newsflash for you: It is personal. You are connected to everyone on this Earth. You share their common humanity, and if we can kill our own children, we can kill anyone. We can kill you. Just keep that in mind the next time you denounce pro-lifers as crazy religious zealots. That we may be. But it might save your life.

Life. There's that word again.

We take it for granted until it's gone, and then we can't take anything back. There are no returns, both in your own life and FOR the life of someone else.

Killing innocents is wrong. Killing innocence is wrong.

Abortion, therefore, is wrong.

Join me. Join us. Join the fifty million dead, and the millions across America and the world. Fight for life, or die trying.

True life is found in the willingness to die for it.

And, of course, God bless America.

:)