Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
How to Avoid a Civil War
John Hawkins has written a cautionary piece for Townhall.com titled “7 Forces Driving America Toward Civil War.” Those forces — upon which he elaborates — are:
- A Post-Constitutional Era
- Tribalism
- Federal Government Too Powerful
- Moral Decline
- The Debt
- Lack Of A Shared Culture
- Gun Grabbing
Looking at that list, it seems that there is sufficient overlap that it could be condensed to two: Disrespect for our Constitutional System and Lack of a Shared Culture. The reason I am reducing this list is that it results in a short-hand test for our national policies and laws:
- Does this policy or law tend to support our constitutional system of division of power, equal justice under law, maximizing individual liberty, and protection of property rights and private contracting?
- Does this policy or law tend to support or undermine a common culture that respects conscience, celebrates freedom, emphasizes personal accountability rather than collective punishment, and rewards honesty and deferred gratification?
Notice what the tests do not do:
- Discriminate for or against anyone for an immutable characteristic.
- Result in global citizenship.
- Impose costs on society to cater to anyone who does not want to fully integrate into our common culture.
- Deprive anyone of their individual liberty, speech, movement, association, and thought.
- Deny anyone the fundamental right of effective personal self-defense.
- Undermine republican principles in favor of mob rule.
I know many people who do not pay attention to politics or vote. Their point of view is that their vote does not matter so why bother with the time to track politics or waste on voting. The older I get the more I believe they may be right.
They may not be right, but they have a point.
The longer we live the more we realize how effectual we are in shaping government.