No Foundations
Last night Linda and I were watching the old movie, Bucket List. The two main actors, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are in the hospital together, dying from cancer. They are watching a sporting event and complaining to each other about the performance of their team when Nicholson says, "No foundations." They continue commenting on the sloppy play and the lack of the teams understanding of the fundamentals. Of course, they are asserting that in their day players were given the fundamental of how to play the game. The old days were better of course.
I laughed knowingly because I got to play some sports in my day, back when things were better, but they really did underscore an important principle in sports as well as in life. If you do not know the fundamentals of the game, you are going to lose. Everything is built on the fundamental foundations of anything, whither it is sports, marriage, an occupation, a profession, or politics.
It is here, in politics, that we can easily see the lack of and understanding of the fundamentals of the game. I listen to the political banter on TV and while driving, on the radio and it is like a hot slap to the face as the rhetoric exposes the lack of foundations.
We are not a nation as other nations. Most nation states are formed over long periods of time by the power plays of strong men and the age-old rule of the survival of the strongest. We are a nation build on principles that have deep philosophical roots. We believe that power is given to the individual by God our Creator and that these basic fundamental underscores everything else in our social structure. We believe that from that basic fundamental, power is delegated upward to those who hold political office and that they are accountable to the people for their defined and limited power and that they are in office to serve, not rule.
The fundamental is akin to the principle given by Jesus to His disciples:
Mark 10:42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
This foundational principle was understood by our founders when they prescribed the fundamentals of our system of government. Our foundations include limited power, the separation of powers and accountability to the people for the power they delegate to those who serve in office.
Even a casual observation of the game today gives rise to the complaint, "No fundamental." It's back to the caveman days of the street fight for power. Mouths open and garbage tumbles out. That's why I think that God put the mouth at the bottom of the head, so that when opened all of our brains fall out. Yep, there is not much of character or sound minded fundamentals falling out these days.
OK, I am old and I admit it. Whither my ramblings are just the 'good old days' musings of an antique 'has been,' or the warnings of a prophet, you will have to decide.
Principles are principles. They are not suggestions and are not up for debate. They are the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Principles do not change. They are not elected nor do they change depending on one’s opinion. You can disagree with them or violate them, but you do so to your own demise. Principles do not bend to alternative realities. They just are!
The principles of our nations founding are there as a context for us to provide the means of their objective: Freedom, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“We hold these trues to be self evident…” That is the framework for principles. They just are!
• You cannot improve on freedom by human organization such as Communism.
• You cannot create a better you by gender reassignment.
• You cannot reengineer nature to fit your tastes – it just is!
Relax and flow with it, for if you don’t you will be miserable by fighting a losing battle.
