The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not pledge their fortunes and sacred honor so the federal government could play 'helicopter parent' to a free people. They saw government as our shared project to secure liberty, doing a few big things and doing them well.
Interpretation
The founders of the United States aimed for a government that supports freedom rather than controlling citizens like a 'helicopter parent'.
In this quote, Ben Sasse reflects on the intentions of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, emphasizing that they committed themselves to creating a government that would protect individual liberty rather than micromanaging the lives of citizens. He argues that the founders envisioned a government focused on significant responsibilities, executing them effectively, and ensuring the freedom of the populace rather than overly intervening in their daily lives.
In practice
This quote is perfect for discussing the role of government in a civic class.
Among the responsibilities of each citizen in a participatory democracy is keeping ourselves sufficiently informed so that we can participate effectively, argue our positions honorably, and hopefully, forge sufficient consensus to understand each other and then to govern.
Becoming a reader grows our horizons, our appetite for the good, the true and the beautiful, and our empathy.
The health of our republic depends on shared principles like the First Amendment, but it is also built on the Teddy Roosevelt-like vigor of its citizens and local self-reliance.
Being stuck in adolescence - that's a hell. 'Peter Pan' is a dystopia, and we forget that. Neverland is a bad place to be.
Rising political tribalism, shamelessly exaggerating our opponents' claims or behavior, is leaving us vulnerable: No one loves America's internal fighting - and our increasingly siloed news consumption - more than Vladimir Putin.
Good history is good story-telling. And good story-telling demands empathy; it requires understanding different actors, differing motivations, competing goals.
Government ought to be as much open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of which it has been monopolized from age to age, by the most ignorant and vicious of the human race. Need we any other proof of their wretched management, than the excess of debts and taxes with which every nation groans, and the quarrels into which they have precipitated the world?"
The necessity of a senate is not less indicated by the propensity of all single and numerous assemblies, to yield to the impulse of sudden and violent passions, and to be seduced by factious leaders, into intemperate and pernicious resolutions.
We are in a period when old questions are settled and the new are not yet brought forward. Extreme party action, if continued in such a time, would ruin the party. Moderation is its only chance. The party out of power gains by all partisan conduct of those in power
I wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you find out who's hitting you? It's about time that the people of America realized what the Republicans have been doing to them.
I learned that fighting on the chess board could also have an impact on the political climate in the country.
Very big business is in bed with very big government in Washington, and has more to do with what the average person sees, hears and reads than most people know.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.