Nathaniel

Shockey

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November 10, 2008

The New America of the Wolds and the Fens

I’ve been growing a friendship with a guy who happens to be both a bass guitarist (who actually played with Frank Sinatra) and a history scholar. We were chatting recently, and he decided to tell me the story of two cultures in English history called the “wolds” and the “fens.”

The wolds were landowners, but did not play any role in the feudal system. As such, they were a free people, and they referred to everyone else as the fens. Eventually, the fens overcame the wolds, as they were too powerful, and the wolds too weak to keep their freedom from the overwhelming government. And so the wolds either moved elsewhere or succumbed to the fens.

Although the original names of “wolds” and “fens” were not maintained, my friend explained that the Pilgrims were a lot like the wolds, fleeing from the fens of England in order to find freedom, which eventually came at the cost of the bloody Revolutionary War. As the new country grew politically, it also developed geographically, slowly moving to the west. There was plenty of land for all, and freedom breathed comfortably.

But things are different now. The last major geographic addition to America was Alaska, in 1867. At that time, the population of the United States was about 35 million people. As we have defined our borders, our population has multiplied nearly ten-fold. The government is growing and it is beginning to seem like, in 2008, the wolds are once again running out of room.

After watching the two best speeches of the campaign, one of concession and one of victory, we now look toward a new president, a Democratic-dominated government, and what will, within a few years, become a liberal-leaning Supreme Court.

As Democrats push harder and harder for new legislation and higher taxes, and as their influence seems to have ballooned more than ever, their political party seems less and less like one that represents democracy, and more and more like a party of fens. But unfortunately, the party that claims allegiance to the conservative principle of small government did anything but shrink the government and increase freedom with six years of opportunity.

Considering my friend’s story, my fear is not that the fen party is growing and the wold party is shrinking. It is that self-proclaimed conservatives are unwittingly becoming fens.

It is true that the vicious political divides are tearing our country apart. But at least that much is obvious. What is obscure is the way that our expanding government is poisoning the very principles of freedom that made America great.

As our government pushes to do things such as raising the business tax, or increasing the taxes on the already over-taxed wealthy, as they seek to pass legislation concerning energy, as they talk of another stimulus package (which is a much friendlier way of saying redistribution of wealth), as they talk of increased regulation of Wall Street, of increased regulation of anything, it is not in America’s best interest to come together as a people and support our government.

Until President-elect Obama begins pushing for policies that endanger the freedom of Americans, he has my full support. And perhaps, after the last eight years, we ought to be reminded that it is our duty as Americans to discern between good or bad policies, not to judge good or bad people. We cannot fall into the pit of political hatred that stagnates positive influence and stifles political discernment.

Bearing this in mind, if we value the power and necessity of liberty, we must not allow our government to continue to grow. As citizens of this great nation, it is our responsibility to keep it free.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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