by Shannon
Prior to 1050 B.C. ancient Israel had no king. They had laws. They had religion. They had judges. However, for approximately 350 years they had no kings. They were self-governing. They were free. When a dispute arose for which they needed guidance or adjudication, they went to the judges who held court – not in fancy courtrooms with high benches – but out among the people as they were needed. The last of the judges were corrupt. Rather than demanding they be replaced, Israel demanded a king like all the other nations around her. Around 1050 B.C. Israel received her first king. When the kings were good, moral, and concerned about their people, the country prospered. It was Israel’s golden age. When the kings were bad and concerned only with their own needs, ambition, and desires, the people suffered. Eventually the kingdom divided over the issue of taxes. The kings of both the north and the south grew so corrupt that enemies were able to overtake both the north and the south. By 586 B.C. all but a remnant had been carried away into captivity in Assyria and Babylon. The northern part of the kingdom never returned, but the southern populace did around 515 B.C.
Prior to 1050 B.C. ancient Israel had no king. They had laws. They had religion. They had judges. However, for approximately 350 years they had no kings. They were self-governing. They were free. When a dispute arose for which they needed guidance or adjudication, they went to the judges who held court – not in fancy courtrooms with high benches – but out among the people as they were needed. The last of the judges were corrupt. Rather than demanding they be replaced, Israel demanded a king like all the other nations around her. Around 1050 B.C. Israel received her first king. When the kings were good, moral, and concerned about their people, the country prospered. It was Israel’s golden age. When the kings were bad and concerned only with their own needs, ambition, and desires, the people suffered. Eventually the kingdom divided over the issue of taxes. The kings of both the north and the south grew so corrupt that enemies were able to overtake both the north and the south. By 586 B.C. all but a remnant had been carried away into captivity in Assyria and Babylon. The northern part of the kingdom never returned, but the southern populace did around 515 B.C.
What does Israel have to do with anything? Their history is a prime example of what Ben Franklin warned of in his speech to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Ben Franklin observed that “there is a natural inclination in mankind to kingly government…. I am apprehensive therefore – perhaps too apprehensive – that the Government of these States may in future times end in a monarchy.” Albert Henry Smyth, ed., The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, volume 9, page 593 [modern spelling]. (May be purchased here.)
That certainly happened in Israel. It also happened in the Roman Empire. It can happen here.
In that same speech, Ben Franklin went on to say that “there will always be a party for giving more to the rulers, that the rulers may be able in return to give more to them. Hence, as all history informs us, there has been in every state and kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing and the governed, the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in dethroning of the princes or enslaving of the people. Generally, indeed, the ruling power carries its point, and we see the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans, and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure.” (Ibid. p. 592.)
My fellow prosecutors and defense attorneys often laugh and make fun of how adverse criminals are to taking responsibility. With what I've observed in the last few weeks, I fear that may be an epidemic no longer specific to the criminals.
We've hit our debt limit as a nation. We must take personal responsibility for that. Where we are is as much a product of who we've elected in the last 50-100 years and what we've allowed them to get away as it is a product of what we've demanded of them. Everybody wants something for nothing. It's human nature. Take responsibility for yourselves.
We want it all. We've been told we can have it all. That's a lie - just ask a working mom. Prioritize. Take responsibility for yourselves and your part in the nation's problems.
On Tuesday night President Obama said, "And yet as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on earth. We may have differences in policy, but we all believe in the rights enshrined in our Constitution. We may have different opinions, but we all believe in the same promise that says ‘this is a place you can make it if you try.’” Believe in the promise. It's proved true for the six generations that have passed since the Declaration of Independence. Take personal responsibility.
On Tuesday night President Obama also said the following regarding Tunisia’s desire for freedom: “The will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator.”
Let it be.
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