Is man capable of ruling himself?
This is a question that has been wrestled with since the beginning of time. Man has always yearned to be the master of his own destiny and to control his own life. There have been shining moments where certain groups in the human family have had freedom to do this, or at least a portion of it. The history of the House of Israel is riddled with the back and forth of having freedom, being conquered and enslaved, and having portions of freedom. The Greeks are recognized as having brought about democracy. The biggest issue with a democracy is that it turns into mob rule. Once the people find out they can vote themselves the treasury of the kingdom it is all downhill.
Now, the Romans, they were sort of on the right track for a while. They started out as a Republic. However, through graft, corruption, lack of a moral compass, and a growing sense of entitlement; they were slowly converted into an Empire in the middle of the night while the people weren’t paying attention. As they focused on “bread and circuses” the freedoms they did enjoy were slowly taken away while a pretense of the old Republic was kept in place.
When the Founding Fathers of our nation were attempting to figure out what type of government would work best as they drafted the Constitution, they reviewed every type of government structure that the world had record of. The Founders shared a great knowledge of history, economics, and politics. Although they all had been educated in different ways, they were all students of many of the great writers. The Founders were looking for a formula that would provide man the maximum amount of freedom without dipping into complete anarchy. The result was a Constitutional Republic that gave the national government just enough power to provide for things the states needed mutually such as the national defense and ensuring that others did not have their rights trampled. However, very limited powers were given to the government as the founders knew that man was best left to blaze his own path through life and to rule himself.
One of the things that the Founders recognized was that man must have a moral compass. They knew that morality was best left to the churches. If the people strayed from being a moral and self regulated people, their plan would not stand the test of time. They did however have faith in the people and firmly believed that man is capable of ruling himself.
The counter point or opposing view of all of this would be that of the progressives. They have always believed that the Founders got it wrong and that man is either too selfish or too stupid to rule himself. This is the slow path and view that has been growing in our nation since the late 19th century. They felt that man needed to be lead by “experts” who were educated in the proper universities and could see the path that history was heading towards and guide man in the proper direction.
For a more in depth comparison of these two viewpoints, click here.
What does our question have to do with the individual? This has everything to do with the individual. In order for individuals to be empowered with the belief that they can work hard for what they do and bless their own lives and the lives of others in the process; they have to believe that they are capable of ruling themselves. There needs to be an environment that allows us as individuals to blaze our own path. To learn from our successes and failures and to move on and grow there needs to be an environment that allows us to figure out the best path and not be boxed in by excessive regulations or control.
The greatest gift given by God to man is his agency, the ability to choose for himself. If God believes that we should be left to determine our own path and destiny, shouldn’t we ensure that our national and local governments permit us the same?
individualbility 