"From Sea to Shining Sea"

Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Florida to Alaska and from Maine to Hawaii, this country called America is unique among all countries that have ever survived on this Earth.  Its mountains and valleys, its plains and swamps, its rivers and lakes, its deserts and canyons, provide unrivaled grandeur.   But more than that, its freedom and liberty have produced a culture of people steeped in prosperity, goodness and generosity, the likes of which have never before been seen in civilization's rise out of the jungles and swamps of 40,000 years ago. 
 
Long-dead cultures of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean toyed with freedom but could not hold on to it.  The Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and Ottomans rose and then fell into chaos as human avarice, greed and arrogance replaced, or never acknowledged, human rights, dignity and individual liberty.
 
But 230 years ago, some ordinary men, with vision and the wisdom of age and experience in a time of turmoil and confusion, gathered together on the distant shores of a new land and laid down a 'blue print' for free men and women with common purpose and resolve to live out their lives and govern their individual and collective affairs by adhering to that 'blue print'. 

It is my firm belief that the group of individuals with the vision to start a government with its major precept being to identify, define, protect and defend the rights of individuals, may have been more than just a random happening.  In my opinion, this formation of our unique government ranks at the top of all major positive human happenings that have appeared on this Earth since the dawn of human civilization.  This country was designed and created by its forefathers to set up an environment in which an individual man or woman, left alone by his or her government, could struggle and prosper or struggle and fail, based upon his or her own individual abilities.  This country of individuals was created by people of vision, by people who were willing and free to take risks, by people who were willing to toil, by people who were willing to fend for themselves and take care of their own, by proud people and proud families.  What a concept!! 
 
The basic and supreme premise behind this freedom was that individuals were to hold the rights, not the Government, and that all political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed.  The framers, in creating the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution had in their minds a method by which all peoples could save, protect and defend the rights of the individual.  They called these individual rights inalienable, as endowed by their creator.  All of these rights were bestowed upon and applied directly "to" the individual, not "from" the government.  It was the government's responsibility, liability and obligation to defend and protect these individual rights by each officer swearing on oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  
 
I passionately love America.  I love its unique geography, sea to the mountains, to the shining sea again.  I love its small towns and rolling farm lands that are inhabited by gracious, productive and generous people.  I love its magnificent mountains and the vast grass plains.  I love its rivers and picturesque shorelines, where land meets ocean.  I love its varying and diverse cultures.  I love how generous we are as a nation.  But mostly what I love are the guiding principles under which it was formed.  I have a deep and abiding respect and awe for our Founding Fathers that crafted our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence under extreme circumstances.  I love that these guiding principles are what stand in the way of and shield us from socialism, communism, Marxism, a dictatorship, or a reigning monarchy.   
 
If we are to survive as a nation, we should teach people, through every means possible, to exercise their right to individual expression and individual thought, whether or not that expression or thought is in the main stream.  Our true strength as a nation is in the strength of the individual.  We must not, as we have for the last four millennia, amalgamate, merge and level to some bell-shaped-curve average, the behavior of all individuals.  Most human achievement came as a result of efforts of and by an individual, not a society or a culture.  As a matter of fact, societies, cultures, religions and groups have stood in the way of most human achievements.  Scientific discoveries, improvement in the human condition, or positive advances of government, came about from individuals working either by themselves or with a few others.  Because of American freedom and liberty, individuals more easily expressed their creativity, ingenuity, industriousness and generosity.  It is because of these individual achievers that America has spread its shining light over all other nations.
 
If we must emulate someone, let us emulate the achievers.  If we must follow, then let us follow in the footsteps of those that pioneer and forge ahead no matter what the odds or what peril lies in front of them.  Intelligent men and woman of vision forged the Constitution of the United States.  Courageous, individual pioneers settled the west against all odds.   Now today, the individual spirit of tens of thousands of entrepreneurs commence new businesses every day, risking their relationships with each other and their personal fortunes, no matter how large or small.  They put up with every conceivable obstacle thrown in their path, not only from market forces but also by government regulation and edict.  Who knows why they do it.  Perhaps if they knew what they were facing, they wouldn't.
 
Efforts and achievement by individuals fuel the engine that keeps the wheels of our free economy turning.  Individuals running their own businesses create sixty percent of all jobs in the United States.  What a country we live in.  What a tribute to its resilient peoples.  We are still a people of guts, courage, intellect, enterprise and compassion.  We are individuals in a sea of individuals and there is no strength on Earth that can match ours, in spite of our perceived troubles.   

So when you look up and see the American flag flying proudly in the wind as a gracious symbol of our freedom and liberty, remember with reverence the price so many have paid to keep that flag flying high.  As an American you have every right to feel deep pride, honor and respect for a country that gave you life and gave you freedom.  Let not any soul take it for granted.
 
If you love America as we do, won't you please help us defend her.

 Ron Ewart, President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS
P. O. Box 1031, Issaquah, WA  98027
425 222-4742 or 1 800 682-7848
(Fax No. 425 222-4743)
Website: www.narlo.org

Good Neighbor Committee
P.O. Box 155 - La Salle, CO  80645
info@goodneighborlaw.com

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