America's 4th July celebration
3 July 2012 By Abiodun Giwa
This year's July 4th independence anniversary is on the weekend. It is celebration time! Fireworks have started heralding the occasion, as I write, just as we have always witnessed, remembering the good deeds of the Founding fathers, and how the United States has achieved grandeur success since after the independence war.
You have experienced being a student in a college in one of the history classes to appreciate engaging in a journey called the American dream. It is a dream about a journey into freedom and achievements. It is about a trip that requires gut, determination, hard work, vision, as demonstrated by the Founding fathers.
These are the attributes exhibited by the Founding fathers, among whom are George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, to mention just a few. They are perfect as described in history. There is nowhere in history that shows striving for perfection as a crime and unattainable.
They achieved the proud American dream by striving toward perfection in every area of human endeavor under the rule of law and justice. They aimed high taking care of the deprived and the weak and enabling everyone to achieve the best in life, without allowing selfishness and self-aggrandizement to stand in their way.
It was as if they were not politicians. And people have asked: Are they politicians from another planet? Abraham Lincoln surfaced and followed the spirit of conquering the odds. He emancipated the people who were legally not free. And the country has since embarked on programs towards eliminating systemic discrimination wherever it rates its ugly head. And that is not all. Lyndon Johnson pushed the button to enable education for all with the education financial aid.
The country belongs to all. It does not belong to the strong, not to the weak, not to the majority, and not to the minority. The Constitution provides to protect and defend all. The document letters are not perfect, but they represent checks and balances to beat politicians' selfishness and greed. Americans believe these checks and balances do work. Any problem in the system is not intentional as in most human affairs due to the imperfection of human nature.
The problem in America today is about the public policy process where the politicians hold sway. They want or tend to do things their ways and not as the Founding fathers would have done. The public interest hardly matters to the politicians, though they say whatever they are doing is.
However, many students in the Public Administration study in the Public Policy Process classes have since discovered that politicians live in their world and that many need to attend a course in Administrative Ethics. And if not, society is moving to a time when it must be mandatory that anyone seeking public office must undergo training in that discipline.
Many Americans find themselves today in the same shoes as Socrates - the great Greek Philosopher- for not understanding the minds of their politicians. So, he sought a way to circumscribe the politicians. He wanted the society of his time saved by teaching youths philosophy. But the politicians eliminated him for them to have their ways. So, they lied and got rid of him.
The lesson from this 4th July is that it allows us to honor the Founding fathers, because of their selflessness, unlike the politicians that are confounding to us.
You have experienced being a student in a college in one of the history classes to appreciate engaging in a journey called the American dream. It is a dream about a journey into freedom and achievements. It is about a trip that requires gut, determination, hard work, vision, as demonstrated by the Founding fathers.
These are the attributes exhibited by the Founding fathers, among whom are George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, to mention just a few. They are perfect as described in history. There is nowhere in history that shows striving for perfection as a crime and unattainable.
They achieved the proud American dream by striving toward perfection in every area of human endeavor under the rule of law and justice. They aimed high taking care of the deprived and the weak and enabling everyone to achieve the best in life, without allowing selfishness and self-aggrandizement to stand in their way.
It was as if they were not politicians. And people have asked: Are they politicians from another planet? Abraham Lincoln surfaced and followed the spirit of conquering the odds. He emancipated the people who were legally not free. And the country has since embarked on programs towards eliminating systemic discrimination wherever it rates its ugly head. And that is not all. Lyndon Johnson pushed the button to enable education for all with the education financial aid.
The country belongs to all. It does not belong to the strong, not to the weak, not to the majority, and not to the minority. The Constitution provides to protect and defend all. The document letters are not perfect, but they represent checks and balances to beat politicians' selfishness and greed. Americans believe these checks and balances do work. Any problem in the system is not intentional as in most human affairs due to the imperfection of human nature.
The problem in America today is about the public policy process where the politicians hold sway. They want or tend to do things their ways and not as the Founding fathers would have done. The public interest hardly matters to the politicians, though they say whatever they are doing is.
However, many students in the Public Administration study in the Public Policy Process classes have since discovered that politicians live in their world and that many need to attend a course in Administrative Ethics. And if not, society is moving to a time when it must be mandatory that anyone seeking public office must undergo training in that discipline.
Many Americans find themselves today in the same shoes as Socrates - the great Greek Philosopher- for not understanding the minds of their politicians. So, he sought a way to circumscribe the politicians. He wanted the society of his time saved by teaching youths philosophy. But the politicians eliminated him for them to have their ways. So, they lied and got rid of him.
The lesson from this 4th July is that it allows us to honor the Founding fathers, because of their selflessness, unlike the politicians that are confounding to us.
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