In A Word, Lemming: Are you a creature who blindly follows, or one who thinks before acting.
Gerald Eisman
October 16, 2006
In A Word, Lemming:
Lemming: A species of European rodent prone to mass migrations terminating often in mass drownings in the ocean.
In the constitution there is a section called the Bill of Rights. In that section, certain unalienable rights are spelled out as inviolable.
"…But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Such is the attempt by the Federal and many state governments to curb the rights of its citizens. In so many cases, the populace, represented by elected officials, engages in such efforts, the purpose being to manipulate an individual's behaviors to conforming, much as a group of Lemmings. People need laws. That is an undeniable truth, for without them we would have a nation drenched in anarchy.
What we don't need are laws which infringe upon or abridge the rights of individuals to pursue the daily privileges of living in a free country. If what individuals consider a right affects only their own lives and not of their next door neighbor or any other individual or group, then there should be no attempt made to hinder them. If, in the course of their conduct, their actions assail the religious sensibilities of their neighbor, there should be no law preventing the action.
When religion enters the picture of life, emotions accompany that entry and reason abdicates the discussion. Suddenly, the best of friends might be caught up in an argument of life changing proportions, ending in a state of anger that never heals. Lifelong friends become lifelong enemies. And all this happens in the name of God. But whose vision of God will hold sway? No matter the way one worships, isn't that a personal choice, or, like lemmings, are people obligated to blindly leap into the sea and drown should their picture of a deity differ?
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of the rights of its people, it is the obligation of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new governmental agents. It is the right of every citizen to vote for changing its representatives and the very foundation of principles and powers, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. The operating word here is "every," for anything that impinges on the rights of one, impinges, eventually, on the rights of all.
In less than a month, we, the people of the United States, will have the opportunity to make changes to our government. We will be presented with the chance to vote and offered choices that can affect the lives of millions of citizens in our own country and billions of citizens in the world. What we do at the polls will affect politics and a way of life here in America for the next two years. Voting party lines is acting the lemming, blindly following one leader right or wrong, unquestioning, without thought, directly into the sea of catastrophe. Running the voting machine down one column without reaching into your own consciousness and asking, is this what's best for me, my family, my neighbors and my country, doesn't display thought; just lemming-like action.
When one considers the issues, two sides emerge and, if each side is examined, pros and cons listed, one candidate will emerge as more attuned with correctness; with intelligent suggestions. One man might say, truthfully, I am an individual and alone cannot fix anything, but, if given the opportunity can work with my fellow elected officials for the betterment of the country. He then, should be given the chance at the job.
As we enter the privacy of the voting booth, we also enter the depths of our mind. There, where only you and your conscience are present, the time for decision presents itself. No one can see which lever is pulled. The time to think and make an intelligent decision arrives, and there isn't anyone to tell you how to vote, or for whom. Think, and forget party, ideology, and political propaganda. Vote the person and what they can, or will do for the nation. The time for lemmings has passed.
Lemming: A species of European rodent prone to mass migrations terminating often in mass drownings in the ocean.
In the constitution there is a section called the Bill of Rights. In that section, certain unalienable rights are spelled out as inviolable.
"…But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Such is the attempt by the Federal and many state governments to curb the rights of its citizens. In so many cases, the populace, represented by elected officials, engages in such efforts, the purpose being to manipulate an individual's behaviors to conforming, much as a group of Lemmings. People need laws. That is an undeniable truth, for without them we would have a nation drenched in anarchy.
What we don't need are laws which infringe upon or abridge the rights of individuals to pursue the daily privileges of living in a free country. If what individuals consider a right affects only their own lives and not of their next door neighbor or any other individual or group, then there should be no attempt made to hinder them. If, in the course of their conduct, their actions assail the religious sensibilities of their neighbor, there should be no law preventing the action.
When religion enters the picture of life, emotions accompany that entry and reason abdicates the discussion. Suddenly, the best of friends might be caught up in an argument of life changing proportions, ending in a state of anger that never heals. Lifelong friends become lifelong enemies. And all this happens in the name of God. But whose vision of God will hold sway? No matter the way one worships, isn't that a personal choice, or, like lemmings, are people obligated to blindly leap into the sea and drown should their picture of a deity differ?
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of the rights of its people, it is the obligation of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new governmental agents. It is the right of every citizen to vote for changing its representatives and the very foundation of principles and powers, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. The operating word here is "every," for anything that impinges on the rights of one, impinges, eventually, on the rights of all.
In less than a month, we, the people of the United States, will have the opportunity to make changes to our government. We will be presented with the chance to vote and offered choices that can affect the lives of millions of citizens in our own country and billions of citizens in the world. What we do at the polls will affect politics and a way of life here in America for the next two years. Voting party lines is acting the lemming, blindly following one leader right or wrong, unquestioning, without thought, directly into the sea of catastrophe. Running the voting machine down one column without reaching into your own consciousness and asking, is this what's best for me, my family, my neighbors and my country, doesn't display thought; just lemming-like action.
When one considers the issues, two sides emerge and, if each side is examined, pros and cons listed, one candidate will emerge as more attuned with correctness; with intelligent suggestions. One man might say, truthfully, I am an individual and alone cannot fix anything, but, if given the opportunity can work with my fellow elected officials for the betterment of the country. He then, should be given the chance at the job.
As we enter the privacy of the voting booth, we also enter the depths of our mind. There, where only you and your conscience are present, the time for decision presents itself. No one can see which lever is pulled. The time to think and make an intelligent decision arrives, and there isn't anyone to tell you how to vote, or for whom. Think, and forget party, ideology, and political propaganda. Vote the person and what they can, or will do for the nation. The time for lemmings has passed.
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