Me, Versus Me.
23 February 2009
There are two Travis Thorntons, the public and the private. I am not referring to my extrovert side, or my introspective side. I am speaking specifically about a commitment I made long ago to serve the country I love, and “support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies foreign and domestic.” Therein lies the rub.
I, as an Active Duty commissioned officer, am subject to Article 88 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, which states, “Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.” It doesn’t take long surveying this website to realize, of this, I am guilty.
It’s worth noting, though, that there is a stark difference between service and servitude. Throughout human history, mankind has given of themselves to causes they deem as greater than their self-interests. These are people who are willing to volunteer, to work for something outside of themselves. I used to be one of those people.
When people are required to do certain things for causes they no longer respect, they become a servant, and their quality of work falters, making it detrimental for both the individual and the cause at hand. My drive of volunteerism for this particular cause might be running out. I still love my country; so much, in fact, that it may be time for me to move on.
If I personally feel that our federal government is to blame for the coming calamities, it will become more difficult for me to serve in its capacity. The Reverend William J. H. Boetcker said, “That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.” Herein my thoughts are revealed, in accordance with the First Amendment of the Constitution which I hold dear, and with little regard for much else.
An Unsustainable Future
Before birth, my son will owe over $30,000 to the governing body of this nation to pay down the national debt, now sitting at $10.8 trillion, or $10,800,000,000,000. With 53 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities towards the welfare state, his tax burden is over $150,000. For our nation to pay down this debt by 2040, government would have to double the current tax rates. It is painfully obvious to me that our country has reached a level of borrowing-and-spending that is unsustainable.
Our government has historically been gridlocked over ideological differences. During good times and bad, conservatives argue against raising taxes, as they impede our prosperity (according to supply-siders like… me). Likewise, liberals argue against spending cuts, claiming, “Only government can save this economy.” Coupling the 111th Congress with this President has emboldened the liberal agenda, bringing unseen levels of spending, with the opposition now unable to stop the process. The recent stimulus package represents 5% of GDP when the entire New Deal was only 2% of GDP, and carries a larger dollar amount than we saw during eight years of the Clinton Administration… and as our President said, “It’s only the beginning.”
As our market contracted, we observed ebbing confidence, increased risk aversion, and a private sector, fatally weakened, seek public assistance, hat in hand. Our bleeding heart government has been ever so happy to oblige, operating on political tactics, instead of long-term strategy for the good of the country.
These actions will have devastating consequences. With every spending package that is added to public debt, we mortgage our children’s future. In a matter of days (hours, even), I will be a father, so this means more and more to me daily. Now, Americans are slowly facing the facts, as they can no longer avoid a crisis that affects their personal lives and their own standards of living.
Liberty over Tyranny
In his dystopic novel 1984, George Orwell’s slogan for Oceania is, “War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.” This slogan helps maintain Oceania’s tyranny by suppressing the dissent of its people. I would say these concepts are intertwined, and help reveal the reality our forefathers faced, and once again before us now. Ignorance is Slavery. This Slavery brings a Peace, of course, but not what our forefathers intended. They intended for Freedom to bring us Peace. Our founders also argued that War can bring Strength, by saying so much in the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
To abolish a regime and make new again would not be a pretty scene, with this country separating not into conservative or liberal camps, but into makers and takers, or patriots and loyalists. This was our nation’s purpose, though, to refresh itself, to protect our freedoms, economic and individual alike. Since elections don’t seem to solve anything, perhaps its time to resort to other means to achieve our ends.
Sons of Liberty
If you don’t think economic liberties were vital to this nation’s founding, perhaps a short history lesson is in store. With the protests of the Stamp Act in 1765, dissidence was first voiced in this land through the Sons of Liberty. These men united around a cause, in opposition the Townshend Acts which viciously raised taxes on imports and attempted to control the thirteen original colonies. These groups were effective at blockading almost all British imports. This resulted in British retaliation and the Boston Massacre in 1770. The Sons of Liberty organized the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and ultimately, hastened the American Revolution.
These individuals confronted issues that went beyond their tax burden; they were fighting for their freedoms, and the freedoms of future generations, including yours. Similarly, our budgetary issue today is not simply a domestic problem. As of 2007, foreign countries own 44.5% of our public national debt. We are mortgaging our future to the likes of China and OPEC. This explains why this weekend our Secretary of State asked Beijing to continue buying US Treasury bonds, stating, “By continuing to support American Treasury instruments the Chinese are recognizing our interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together.” Insomuch, American sovereignty is undermined.
Today, in an attempt to fix our economy, our government goes on an all-out spending spree, in order to “look busy,” without addressing the real issues. Who does our government turn to when they need a bailout? I’m afraid that the first issue our government will be unable to fund could be not domestic, but from a foreign threat, in the form of a national security disaster. Don’t expect a lender to fund a lendee’s spending outside their own self-interests.
My Dilemma
In the meantime, as a military member, what do I do? Our policies are set to sacrifice not only our freedoms, but our independence as well, and not just for this generation, but for our future. I’ve concluded I can no longer just “go along to get along.”
Therefore, I will remain a patriot, but I will not remain silent. I will do my best to be an asset to the country I love, but I will not be a tool. Although my opinion is neither desired nor required, I’ll do what I can for the cause, but I won’t drink the Kool-Aid… or the strychnine.
I base this choice upon the words of our first Administration, not our current regime, as President Washington substantiated my dissent when he said, “If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
I have been awarded great opportunities through service. Through the Navy, I traveled overseas and in such realized there’s no greater place on Earth than the United States of America. That’s why immigrants risk life and limb to get here. That’s why our founders did the same, to beat back the aggression of an overbearing Empire. It is in that spirit, that of the Declaration of Independence, of the liberties protected in our Constitution, that I do what I do, leaving my options open. If a crisis ensues, of which I am compelled, I may indeed heed the call.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.
~ From Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn”