July 11, 2013

The American Spirit

A few decades ago I was part of a group reviewing the operations of a small company that hired people with developmental disabilities to put commercial flyers in envelopes for bulk mailing.

Upon entering the work area, a young man stuffing an envelope made eye contact with me and stated with a big smile “I am a man”. I knew instantly the meaning of his statement and replied “yes, you certainly are”.

What this young man expressed to me was his American Spirit. He was saying that he was important because he was doing the best he could. And I agreed wholeheartedly because I knew that very same attitude in millions of others who came before him is what made this country great.

But today I have to ask, what has happened to that American Spirit?

How can so many believe that making people dependent on others for their comfort is a good thing?

How can so many support cheating people out of opportunities to experience that American Spirit? One only has to look at Greece to see where that will end.

We need to redirect our constitutional Republic back to the path our Founder’s envisioned, one of personal responsibility and pride in individual achievement. That can only be done by engaging in the election process. That responsibility rests with each of us.

An election in Virginia is less than four months away. Each of us needs to take the time to review candidate histories and assess if they will likely move us back toward a constitutional Republic or further away? By doing so, we can be part of the solution. To do less and we’re part of the problem.

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck