On Saturday, the Service Employees International Union is planning a Day of Rage in locations all across our great county, with the theme being a "takeover" of Wall Street and those dirty, nasty, capitalistic American businesses.
Imagine that, an international union composed of American public-sector government employees, paid by us, the taxpayers, are going to make a direct attack on the source of the tax monies that pay their wages.
The reason? I'm not really sure, but can only guess that they want to see the burdens the state imposes on the productive members of society be ratcheted up to finance even more public sector spending that we can ill afford.
Government creates expenses, not jobs, not revenue, not wealth, not creativity, and is inherently tyrannical if not properly controlled. The $14 trillion in unfunded liabilities and debt of our federal government, and $1 trillion in similar state debt, are just two examples of out-of-control government.
This is not to say that folks do not have the right to free association, or to combine for the common good. Those rights are part and parcel of our Constitution and of who we are as a people. But when an organized effort by an international association attempts to manipulate our government or private institutions through acts that can be perceived as intimidation, then we the people must take notice.
The most basic premise and function of government is the inherent right of the people to self-determination. All power of government resides in the people, who loan certain amounts of responsibility to supposedly honest and upright citizens to represent their interests. Our wonderful country is a representative republic with multiple levels of checks and balances that are supposed to ward off attempts to usurp power by nefarious groups and individuals.
When the power of outside groups exceeds that of the people, then only chaos can be the result. When the power of government exceeds the the ability of the people to control it, then we have tyranny.
Sept. 17 is also Constitution Day, which is mandated by Congress. It specifically states that our Constitution be taught in every school, at every grade level in our country, for the week following that date. Understanding the purpose of our Constitution, how it works and why it works is paramount to good government -- and knowing how to restrain bad government with the chains of liberty our founders fought and died for.
I look around our great land and see signs that common people are tackling the challenge of teaching the Constitution to our children in all kinds of ways.
Community groups have formed to place pocket Constitutions in the hands of teachers, and others have assembled lesson plans and donated them to school principals. Other individuals have created websites such as www.ypcmercedcounty.com that this newspaper highlighted weeks ago in anticipation of Constitution Day and Week.
In each and every case it is the people who care about being an informed citizenry who are leading this effort. It is we who recognize that the proper education of the young will maintain our liberties for them and future generations of Americans. I applaud the efforts of every one of them.
I find it incredibly ironic that the SEIU has chosen the same day to promote whatever message they are trying to get across on the day we are teaching our children about the most basic principles of being an American citizen. Which message do you want to promote?
The author is coordinator of the Merced/Atwater Tea Party Patriots.
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