Of the Government, by the Government, and for the Government

 

Of the Government, by the Government, and for the Government

Euphoria

Return to Individual

By Stephen

Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

 

 

            There is a truth that should probably be classified as absolute.

            Those who served as models and mentors and fostered the interest and fascination for our way of life demonstrated a common trait. They all loved and remained devoted to the craft, the skill, and the land of our existence. In nearly every case, the attachment was interrupted only by death.

            There remain memories of conversations of those who reminisced about work that lasted good portions of entire summers. Those were long, hard days and it was only more so for the generations that came before them. They all got by on so little compared to modern days.

            The tools, the possessions, the diet, and the routine was so simplistic compared to the respective counterparts of our time in this era. Only the basic work and the interactions with the livestock, the horses, and the people remain inviolate.

            Certainly, we have more tools, technical advantages, and certain knowledge, but the interactions with natural surroundings have not changed to the extent of most endeavors. If our way of life endures, our presence will no doubt impact those we influence as well.

            The memories of those honored elders have a common thread that we, too, attempt to describe at times. It is especially so when we are together (which is much too seldom). It was experienced once again at the end of our recent cow work.

            For lack of a better description, it shall be termed euphoria, and … that begs for explanation.

            Euphoria

            It was Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address that recrafted the idea that the American model was different from any collective government up until that time. Words he used have even became the familiar and commonly referenced byline that conjures up patriotism and respect for the original law of our land, the Constitution.

            … of the People, by the People, for the People …

            The phrasing was included within another 263 words that left the crowd perplexed for what was expected to be more. At the time, it was a letdown. They viewed is as incomplete. The punchline failed to appear. The gist of the concept was largely lost upon them until the draft of the speech was studied and considered.

            Few to none of us could spontaneously come up with the conclusion of Lincoln’s phrasing, but it is, in reality, as important or more important than those first words.

            … shall not perish from the earth.

            Without attempting to analyze Lincoln’s intent, the term euphoria does reenter the notion. The president had endured two years of hell by the time the speech was given in that Pennsylvania field. He had awakened too many times from tortured sleep to continue to live the nightmare he and the nation faced. It is not difficult to recognize Lincoln sought the kinship of those people, his people, as much as they needed the same lift from him. The war effort was overwhelming and the visceral need to seek the grace of conclusion was powerful. The thought of such a release was euphoric.

Lincoln found comfort in that setting and was ultimately successful in including those people in that state of being.

Of the Government, by the government, and for the Government

There is looming truth.

In the 159 years since the speech, America, these united states, has stepwise reengineered the originality of governance elevating the citizenry into the place of central authority. The examples are too numerous, but the reminder is the within the framework of Amendment X which ostensibly gave the citizenry extensive retained powers. Such authority is merely a pipe dream.

This government has no allegiance to the precept of the people, by the people, and for the people. The phrase is nothing more than electioneering colloquialism. It is pulled out of the hopper, dusted off, and applied for effect when it is time to conditionally count votes.

The system has long been one of central focus and control of the government, by the government, and for the government. This behemoth is a self-serving, ever-expanding monstrosity that will defend itself to our death. It is now in a state of peril whereby the gloves are fully off any pretext of the stewardship of originality.

The helm is occupied by a morally inert, incapacitated product of the decline. He is there solely by the cumulative corruption of the governing force. It is impossible for him to make correct decisions because he has never been invested in the individual, but, rather, he is the showpiece of the dependent mob. There is no projected euphoria in his being.

Suggesting otherwise is a contradiction of opposing forces.

Return to Individual

I am drawn time and again to those who influenced me.

To pinpoint a motivating feature of that statement, it is incorrect to suggest they were the primary reason for the fascination that led me to this time and place, but they certainly fill the role of an adjunct to it. In truth, it is an individual thing.

That is also the gist of the Constitution, but time has proven the individual becomes lost within the whole. In the end, the Framers did a poor job of converting the Founders’ concept into words. There is simply too little emphasis elevating the individual in our cornerstone law.

In the end, it hasn’t really mattered, anyway. In counterpoint to natural law, corruption always has a way of transforming the best of intentions and that is where our nation is today. We have only ourselves.

That realization is the only earthly truth we can count on and so it was when the horses were loaded and the trip back into daily routine began. What remained was the fleeting euphoria of completion of these tasks, the chosen tasks of this lifestyle, that mattered … Praise be to God that remains.

 

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico.

Lincoln's wasn't an original, in the sense it was based on Pericles funeral oration (421 B.C.).

It was also Lincoln's attempt to raise up the Declaration of Independence as compared to the Constitution, as many liberals and "Big Government"  conservatives try to do today.

 The Lincoln administration and the Republicans initiated and supported policies and programs that have resulted in the in the huge federal government we have today. It was Lincoln, after all, who sent thousands to their deaths to "preserve the union". The very union that Wilmeth describes.

This takes nothing away from what Wilmeth has written about the direction our government has taken. I'm just no fan of Lincoln and have to speak up when something is written about him on THE WESTERNER .