Our similarities and our government

Shannon Bohrer

(8/2019) While we have differences between the members of our two major political parties, we also have a lot in common. I believe our similarities are sometimes greater than our differences, but we don’t see them, possibly because we aren’t looking in that direction. Maybe if we looked we might be surprised with what we find. We can start with the American dream, which holds that each successive generation will be better off than the previous generation.

I believe it’s in our DNA to think that we should always be improving. In our Declaration of Independence it says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [all people] 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." The majority of people in both parties would agree with these lofty words, at least the direction they imply.

While we can agree on most of the words in our Declaration of Independence, there are people that have a problem with the part that says, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Some people just don’t like the government.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 1958 around seventy five percent of us trusted our government. The trust declined in the 1960’s with the Vietnam War and then again in the 1970’s with Watergate. Every time the economy grew, confidence also grew and each time the economy faltered, so did our confidence. After 911, the confidence in our government experienced a 30-year high, but just temporarily. Trust in our government since 2007 has not exceeded 30 percent. A peculiarity with the polling is that the party in office has more faith in government - when they are in office. So is the faith with the party, or with the government?

The "consent of the governed" means we give the government the power to represent us. That is a sticking point for many. While Americans say they love their county, they are rarely complementary about their government. In some ways I find this position somewhat contradictory. It would be like me saying I love my marriage, but I don’t trust my wife. It is understandable that there are times when we are not happy with our government, but it is our government – as we have determined it.

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country." - Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The premise that we don’t trust our government, can sometimes conflict with reality. In September of 2009 at a political event in South Carolina a person said, "Keep your government hands off my Medicare." The problem for this person was, and maybe still is, that Medicare is a government program. So, in essence if the person likes their Medicare – they like a government program. Obviously there are people that cannot admit that they like somethings that the government does. Sometimes it can be very difficult for some people to say anything good about our government, even when they benefit from a government program.

"I got a letter the other day from a woman. She said, ‘I don’t want government –run health care. I don’t want socialized medicine. And don’t touch my Medicare." -President Obama’s addressing a town hall meeting in July 28, 2009.

While many don’t trust our government, we trust ourselves. We, in both parties, believe that we are independent and responsible for our own success. People need to be charge of their own lives; they need to make their own choices and should be responsible for their own success. Often coupled with this belief is the idea that government interferes too much, and hinders our ability to be independent.

While many have the belief that being independent and responsible is ideal without government interference, there is a contrary belief that government interference in not always bad. Is government interference or assistance required when we don’t have a level playing field? Remember the part that says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [all people] are created equal..." While very idealistic, the reality is that after being created, the equality often disappears. Those that are born into wealth and privilege are more likely to succeed, than those born into poverty. We may be equal in the eyes of the creator at birth, but that equality can change the moment after birth.

The ability to experience "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…" can be dependent upon equal opportunity and equal opportunity does not always exist. We hear individuals from both parties stating that every child should have the opportunities to grow and flourish, but is the opportunity available for everyone? We hear that we are supposed to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, but what happens when someone has no boot straps, or they have no boots?

While we agree on much, we sometimes disagree on what constitutes equal opportunity. Does anyone really believe that the children in Flint Michigan are on equal footing with children from other cities? How many other Flint Michigan cities exist and what is being done to correct the problem?

While some believe that the less the government does, the freer we are to "Be all that we can be", how does that fit with the idea of equal opportunity? If the government is to ensure that each of us is entitled to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…", how does the government ensure a level playing field? Maybe the question should be - can a government ensure a level playing field? What the government should do, or could do, to ensure equality might describe a major political difference between the two parties.

Since we are a nation that values individualism, we should also expect disagreements, maybe we should value them. The problems we have can divide our political systems, but they also have the ability to unite us. If we examine problems from the perspective of resolving them – starting with what we both believe, we might move in a better direction.

"What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal - that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will." - Barack Obama