Dear America,

One of the books checked out of the NY library currently staking claim to an apparent oversight of the first President of the United States, and hefty fine if in fact they were seeking such, is titled the "Law of Nations" by Emmerich de Vattel, 1758.

Take a gander through the pages of this remarkable collection of political thought and ideology, and be amazed at the brilliance of understanding human nature, natural law, and the rule of man all wrapped up into one juicy specimen for the encouragement and proliferation of all mankind via good government.

I stumbled upon a literary monument to de Vattel, giving literary license to read the complete set, easily allowing access to whatever topic seeks your fancy -- suffice it to say, it is well worth your time.

I wasn't sure what to view first, but something caught my eye about half way down the first page:

Under Book I Chapter 11 --
The Second Object of a Good Government;
To Procure the True Happiness of the Nation

Section 116:
The Nation may hence discover the intention of it's rulers --
"It is an incontestable truth, that the virtues of the citizens constitute the most happy dispositions that can be desired by a just and wise government...render the great and the common people virtuous, their views pure and upright, and you may rest assured that they solely aim at the great end of good government, the happiness and glory of the nation. 

BUT if they corrupt the morals of the people, spread a taste for luxuries, effeminaces, a rage of licentious pleasures, if they stimulate the higher orders to a ruinous pomp & extravagance -- beware, citizens! beware of those corruptors!  they only aim at purchasing slaves in order to exercise over them an arbitrary sway."

I read the opinion recently that the underlying belief amongst most Americans is a sense of being "unsure" about our government today.  But my sense is that we are quite the contrary --  we are more like quite sure.

We know at the very core of our being, at our most sincerest point of conviction, the bigger the government the harder we fall. We are quite sure that we cannot trust the government, as we are unsure of it's proclivities and intentions to drain the common people of all their wealth and worth.

But the thing is, how soothing to know that the thoughts of de Vattel and the acts of good government, espoused by a myriad of apostles of natural law and passed down through the ages, were at one time in the hands of good old George!

And the second thing of course, is how freaky true!

Lost is our sense of living a virtuous  life, and by good example we need to look no further than our own television, our window to the world and for all the world to see.

Without the George's of the world watching carefully over us, and doing right by their own personal pledge to serve and create good government, we can find solace in realizing that perhaps the value of this nation's second greatest generation is happening right now; that America's future rests firmly and completely in our hands, right here and right now.

And surely as many of us believe Divine Providence lights our way forward, some might say in as little as just a few steps ahead of us, rest assured the life and times of today's challenges in restoring good government to it's rightful place is already done in the eyes of God.  All we must do is take back the helm, resume course, and sail into calmer seas by virtue of the return to good character and a virtuous people.

It must be a conscious decision -- while surely a deliberate act such as this is not for the faint of heart; unfortunately, what it asks of us is an undeniable faith to forgo the "luxuries, effeminaces, a rage of licentious pleasures" for a time, in order to restore what really matters in our pursuit of happiness -- and that surely being the very foundation of our nation's freedom and liberty by living the principles set forth at our birth.

A good government that would naturally recognize the importance of keeping it's people at liberty to have and be and do what it wishes, relies actually on a government willing to step out of the way, to relinquish it's power, and extinguish it's own natural tendencies towards greed and corruption; in other words, the nation relies on this good government to set the example for it's people above all else, or else.

Most of us are quite sure that this government of ours is no longer good.

Most of us are quite sure of the discipline it will require of us, of the citizenry to correct it's course -- yet in this moment, unsure, if in fact, we have what it takes as a whole.

If this is any sign as to what lies ahead in wait, how about that family who is allowing their two children to be unschooled recently seen on ABC News -- just one example of degenerate parents creating degenerate children, advocating the next generation of dysfunction and entitlement on the horizon...

we no longer need to go to school, or even be home schooled -- but actually NO schooled!  The kids sit around and eat donuts (for their diet is a freedom of choice), watch TV (for what they put in is solely up to them) and otherwise attend to nothing unless they want to -- no chores, no field trips of higher learning, no books required or responsibilities of any kind.

We can only hope, that one day, these kids wake up and get an urge to go to the library -- perhaps check out a book entitled "Law of Nations" and actually sit down with the television off and read it -- the entire collection if possible (if they can sit still long enough) -- matter of fact, as long as they give us their word to read it of course, they could even pull a George and keep it!  Keep it in good faith, as the state's gift to you in order to combat future juvenile delinquency; just one way a bad government could keep on giving that may eventually do some good...

Or better yet, how about we take out every history book and social studies course, and immediately redirect the curriculum to one book -- the  "Law of Nations"; it may take twelve years of study, but by my projections (with the CBO yet to report), if we start out sometime around kindergarten, we just might have half a chance to teach something good and meaningful and timeless to our kids (the next leaders of our free world, if we survive that long).

Make it a Good Day, G

In the after- thought, equally interesting is the reporting about George's long overdue book...the focal point on the astronomical late fees captured much of the interest, as much of the media seemed to find the story, the human interest, simply in that. 

What if...
what if...
what if someone took a moment in their newscast and read aloud excerpts of the content of the crime?  what if?  Wouldn't content meet corruption and justly rule the day...pure and upright would the real story enlighten.