Howdy from Texas. I thank you for joining us today and I thank the amazing Professor Knipprath for his diligent and intelligent contributions as one of our regular and treasured scholars! Isn’t it rewarding, this process of reading through the Federalist Papers?

I must admit that some nights, I am plowing through the night’s reading with such fatigue that I discover that my eyes are crossing. And yet, I persevere with the indefatigable spirit of our forefathers because I am constantly challenged by their sacrifices and tenacity and their marvelous wisdom. This is what our “90 in 90” is providing, a window of wisdom.

As I start the nightly reading I, at times, wonder how I will get through the pages and yet by the time I am finished with the reading, I am always exhilarated by the revelations I have encountered and most especially by the relevancy to today’s issues.

There are many aspects to tonight’s paper that are worthy of notation. One paragraph in particular:

“promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for a limited time, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their writings and discoveries.”

These words, freedoms and rights were the engine to the ingenuity and entrepreneurial genius in our country. Great minds were no longer restricted by the limits of ownership. The great ideas and industry of men were no longer chained by the denial of the fruits of their labor.

Men could now dream, fly and hope without being tethered. Free enterprise. The acknowledgment of hard work, tenacity and brilliance with the rewards that naturally align to such achievements are what led the likes of Thomas Edison to try again and again, at least a thousand times, until he successfully created the light bulb.

This is human nature, a psychology of the mind and soul, which our forefathers truly seemed to understand. Men will soar on eagle’s wings when they are free to pursue life, liberty and happiness.

This is one of the greatest arguments against Socialism and Communism, an argument that has been proven by the disastrous accounts of history. To stifle the hope, the industry, by withholding the rewards, is to kill the drive, the spirit.

To see the success of such freedoms and ownership of accomplishments, one has to only look around and see the vast array of astonishing accomplishments in our country from trains, planes, telephones to the heart transplants of modern medicine. Human nature thrives on incentives. Human nature flies on Providential inspiration.

Yet, men are not angels. Hence the check and balances that were intrinsically woven into our Constitution and founding principles. The modern day, knee jerk reaction is to concur with the prevalent belief that the checks and balances were solely to govern the rise of greed and quest for power. This is one reason.

Another reason, it seems, was to govern the jealousies and quest to dominate. Domination dresses in many guises. One that is less obvious in today’s culture, because citizens so quickly and conveniently forget the horrors of history, is an attempt to dominate through a permeation of the cultural thought: that the desire to succeed and flourish is unfair.

It is hard to get many balloons, filled with air, into confinement. It is easy to get many balloons under control when the air is out of the balloon. A flat spirit cannot rise. Why else would communism deny God, squelch creativity and punish free enterprise?

The trend of today is to teach our children that to succeed is bad. The trend of today forgets to teach our children their rights. Why else would the United States Constitution be touted as irrelevant and locked into trunks in dusty attics? Better yet, how many schools have copies of the United Stated Constitutions in their classrooms or libraries? How many households have a copy in their home?

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” Polls reflect that most American’s today believe these words are in our Bill of Rights. They are the words of Karl Marx. Is it any surprise this is becoming the mantra of America?

It is because American’s do not know. It is because America’s children and college students are not required to read and study the United States Constitution.

Our saving grace will be the rise of our educated voices and the prevalence of our vote. Our saving grace begins with educating our nation’s children. It starts with knowledge. It starts in the hearts of Americans. It starts in the home. Spread the word. Talk with your children.
Teach them the words of Emily Dickinson,

“We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies.”

God Bless,

Janine Turner

Friday, June 25th, 2010

 

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