Declaration of Independence

I take this opportunity to be one of the first and the few to declare that my happiness in life stands independent of the choices of a few.America has great hope in the new administration to come--and why not? Barrack Obama is a young and an ambitious man. He seems to know how to motivate the people (at least to put up signs and go out to vote). His very station as President-Elect has done wonders for America's image around the world. He seems to be putting together an able bodied cabinet and working overtime on solutions to America's current woes. Yet America, and perhaps Obama himself, are placing their hope in the wrong places.Like the scape-goats of ancient Israel, who once a year symbollically took all of the nation's sins upon them and were sent off into the wilderness to die (thus absolving Israel of all err0r and wrong doing), every year around November America elects its scape-goats. But ancient Israel misunderstood and so does America. They could not, and we cannot, hope to absolve ourselves of the need for virtue and charity in our lives by blaming all of our nations follies and troubles on these scape-goats, sending them out before the people to roast, and then passing them off into oblivion to waste away. That never solved Israel's problems and it hasn't/won't solve America's. The success of America is not in changing the government, but in changing its people. Yes, admittedly the government and its choices add numerous woes to our lives, but none that we haven't allowed. Are you following? We complain about lawyers, but there wouldn't be so many, who knew so many ways to cheat the law, if there weren't so many of us willing to sue one another. And why do we sue one another? To place blame (essentially . . . let's not get nit-picky). Putting the blame elsewhere is easy, but all that gets us is more lawyers--more people to blame. So why not admit that a good majority of our fortune and success--and that of America--lays within our own hands--the hands of its people.I declare, again, that I want to take responsibility for the success of my life, and to do so I must be willing to take responsibility for the failings of my life. I do this because I believe in liberty and independence. We are not simply the rubbish left over after the actions of our government. It is to us as Americans to be the cause and left to the government to be the effect--not vice versa. How do we go about this? I don't know. I don't have all the answers, but I can see a good place to start and that is in every American, individually. Stand up and declare your independence. Decide that the American dream is as alive as we want it to be. If we'll work together. If we'll care. If we'll work harder at building up and less at tearing down. Our government will never be any better than its people, and it will seldom be worse. I believe in the capacity of everyone for good. I believe in the capacity of everyone to exceed in any field, chosen or otherwise. I believe that a great good will come out of America--greater than ever before--and I believe it will come about because of her people (if they can make the necessary adjustments). I believe, and declare my independence to be able to do so.