We Are The People

Of course I wasn’t alive back then, but it sure seems to me that there was a whole lot more citizenship back in the earlier parts of this country than there is today. That word, “citizenship” might confuse you. These days, a grade-schooler can earn a Citizenship Award by being nice to everybody, not getting into fights, doing what’s expected of him. That’s not the “citizenship” I’m talking about.

A citizen of whatever body—local, regional, national, global—has certain rights and privileges as well as certain responsibilities. In 1982, the people of Ft. Wayne, Indiana (where I grew up) made good on their citizenship, working cooperatively to prevent devastating floodwaters from consuming their city, tirelessly stacked sandbags in an effort that would later earn Fort Wayne the nickname, “The City that Saved Itself”.

Conversely, beneath all the bickering, finger-pointing, and blame throwing that resulted from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was a profound lack of citizenship in New Orleans. Those who were living in New Orleans (and strikingly NOT so much those living in other areas hit by the storm) did not perform their duties as citizens. Would sandbags hold back the devastation of Katrina? Hell no! But could those people have gotten out of there? Some would say they were too poor to leave. Ridiculous! When faced with the choice of taking personal responsibility for their safety or giving up, many of them gave up!

I’m not saying there weren’t failures in all levels of government, quite the contrary. But what is a government? It’s not just a bunch of people making laws and speaking legalese. It’s not just the President, Vice President, Congress, courts, Governors, Mayors, and the like. It’s the people! All of us. You and me. WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT!!!

People used to understand this. This is why we have sustained ourselves as the most powerful nation in the world for so long. People in this country were united in their citizenship. They often fought like cats and dogs over the execution of their duties, but what to do took precedence over how to do it. But times have changed.

I look most recently to the arrests of “suspected” terrorists intending to bomb airplanes en route from Great Britain to the United States with explosives made of hair gel and household products. It seems funny. Hair gel! But there are people who are intent in destroying our citizenry and who will, surprise, surprise, come up with whatever methods they can use to do so. Still, there are those who complained about the “inconvenience” of longer lines and checked bags at the airports. Inconvenience? These measures are being taken to protect your life!

The United States is the greatest country on the planet, I have no doubt. I have to be cautious about that sentence, however, because it’s that sort of belief that has lulled us into complacency. In Hollywood, you always know what’s going to happen. The good guys win, the bad guys lose, and the people in between live to see another day. Many of us hold this idealized view in our lives. In real life, though, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We are not the people in between. We are the good guys! Whether we think our enemies will attack us or not, they will try! So let’s stop complaining. Let’s stop looking at what’s happening to us and start doing what we can to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity”. WE ARE THE PEOPLE who can make it happen. WE ARE THE PEOPLE, not those from over 200 years ago, who MUST take the responsibility for our lives. WE ARE THE PEOPLE, not a foreign committee, not a bunch of elected officials, not a gaggle of celebrities, not the wealthy among us. WE, individually, ARE THE PEOPLE, as a whole. WE ARE THE PEOPLE who must protect and honor our citizenship. WE ARE THE PEOPLE!