Why has America strayed so far from her founding principals?

Question

Not a patriot?
0 I have been told that I am not a patriot...?
Because I do not blindly follow our leaders and because I am not a Christian. When did our sense of patriotism become so skewed? When did the word "Patriot" become synonymous with the word "Sheep"? Thomas Jefferson sad that "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive". George Washington said that "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action". The people were meant to question their leaders. I have been accused of being a traitor because I favor liberty over security, yet did not Ben Franklin claim that "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"? If these founding fathers were still alive today, would they too be condemned of a lack of patriotism? Why has America strayed so far from her founding principals?

Answer 1

Why? It would take too much time and space for all the whys. The number one reason that such a malaise lies upon us is "Slavery." I don't mean the slavery that the Civil War was supposedly about. I mean that the majority of Americans are "wage slaves." We owe, we owe, we owe, so off to work we go. Most of us make enough enough money to get by if we're careful and stay lucky. It's hard to fight the powers that be when the average debt is 10, 000$ or more. We are "owned" just as surely as any "Uncle Tom" or" Kunta Kinte" ever was. This is a great question and I'm so glad to see so many good responses.

Answer 2

I'm not American (I'm British) but I wonder this myself sometimes, I mean the old slogan was "give me your poor, your tired your huddled masses" but these days America is all about the rich and Americans seem to be horrified atthe idea of third world immigrants trying to come to America.

Also all the ideas of no hereditary wealth and everyone getting where they are by their own merit - not exactly the case for George Dubya Bush and Paris Hilton eh?

I think American started out as a "Land of the Free" and a "land of Opportunity" for the poor and oppressed but now has just become so Capitalist that the "poor and oppressed" have long been forgotten. And now we have the same freedoms in Europe that you have in America (Its not the 18th century anymore) I often think that Americans have to re-evaluate what they beleive about themselves.

In some ways we Europeans are better off than Americans. I could never live ina country without government sponsored healthcare! To me thats a basic human right!

Answer 3

so there's intellegence on yahoo!answers afterall. somewhere between 1776 and 2007 American's balls must have shrunk significantly. The factor that plays such a significant role in our post 9/11 lives and unfortunately the same factory that is utilized by the current administration is known only as FEAR. Pure, uncencored, concentrated, underwear-soiling FEAR... But fear of terrorists? It is IRRATIONAL to be afraid of terrorism. for 2 reasons: first more people die from lightning than from terrorists. the second is that a war waged by terrorists is psychological. The worst and most common response to a terrorist attack is to be terrified. So scared are we that we give our president these "emergency powers" and without any transparency we assume that they won't use 9/11 to their political advantage. Then BAMMO we got some kindergarden color-coordinated terror-alert system that they have to re-explain everytime it changes. FEAR is a selling point. Look at Y2K. With FEAR on your side you can control the masses to a certain extent. the Question is: who are we really more afraid of? our own government or the terrorist groups they claim to protect us from. I say both and I say both are destructive to America. terrorists take lives...however, the patriot acts lower the quality of everyone's life. I know what's on the minds of us like-minded people but we can't quite say the R word yet.

Answer 4

I agree with you, but, something to ponder is... The founding father's were people, just like today's leaders, with less education and information at there hands, who is to say there ideas are more correct. Likewise, the world today is a much different place, so who's to say the original principles still apply? I do agree though, I am much more for liberty than for "security". I can protect myself in most cases.

Answer 5

You're a patriot, as are countless others...but their numbers are dwindling.

I think a true patriot questions their own government.

I also think a true patriot will raise arms in face of persecution, foreign and domestic.

*edit*

And q-burt is in the military, working for the government, so of course He's going to be bias.

Answer 6

A clean start is needed. Go back to the Constitution as enacted by the Founding Fathers, which means revoking all subsequent amendments.

Answer 7

GREAT QUESTION. I question the evil authority in power now. These people are not patriots - they are cowards. Bush should send his drunk dumb slut daughters over to fight his war - and I can't believe that Alberto Gonzales didn't burst into flames when he prayed on the bible. There is a theory going around the internet that he actually swore on the necrinomicon - not a bible. Religion is for fools.

Answer 8

Greed

Answer 9

You make some good points and here is another one.
The founding fathers were not christians.
Most were deists.
Many christian Americans like to believe that the US was founded on christian principals,it wasn't

Answer 10

Fear.
Fear is the reason that the so called patriot act was passed. Under this act we Americans have given up Amendment four of the constitution right to search warrant. amendment five right against self incrimination. amendment six right to speedy trial. Trial by jury. the right to confront accuser. the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Amendment nine, rights not given to govt are reserved to people . Amendment ten, rights not expressly given to fed govt. reserved to states. habeous corpes. freedom of expression and speech in Amendment one. the trust of our govt.
Fear got the best of us and in our panic we turned to the worst people to lead us. (reminds me of Germany in the early thirties when the Reichstag was burned. The Nazis blamed it on subversives but was set by the Nazis themselves. this fear is what lead them to assume the emergency powers that lead to WWII.
You ask why the answer is fear.