An American Voice - Introduction - Part 1

Ideas for a struggling Republic 

By CE Marshall 

     Dear Loyal Readers-  I have a confession to make- I have a book written and have not shared it with all of you.   Not that I should be so flattered to think you were waiting with anticipation of anything I write- however still it might be of some interest to anyone that is so inclined to return to my writings and jottings on a regular basis.  I wrote it here and there from 2017 to 2022.   I'm not sure exactly what I've been waiting on-- a publisher or the time to review it, perhaps to re-write it and shine it up for the real world.  I've decided I'm not really interested in doing the work to try and get published so I might as well release it to my only regular audience- the unknown audience of Marshall in the Middle.  I do have a desire to make a difference in the lives of ordinary people with an idea or two that might be of help to our struggling Republic.  Even if only a few hundred people read it, at least it is out there in the common mind of humanity- in one capacity or another.   So, here it is- the Introduction to the book-  I will publish each chapter over the next few weeks.  It's not long at all- 6 Chapters- around 35 to 40 pages.   I wrote it thinking of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine in 1776 with the idea that a little pamphlet changed the world once, maybe it can happen again. 

C.E. Marshall 

 An American Voice

To the Establishment of Wise Government in North America

By C.E.Marshall

Introduction

  

                                                    Thomas Paine and Common Sense 

“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong,  gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in deference of custom.  But tumult soon subsides.  Time makes more converts than reason”.   Thomas Paine from “Common Sense” 1776

                                                     

       These are the words at the very beginning of Thomas Paine’s masterpiece, “Common Sense”, the most significant piece of literature in regards to the catalysts behind the American Revolution.   Paine argued very effectively for a clear and definite separation from the United Kingdom and a Declaration of Independence.  Is it time for a second American Revolution ?  A revolution against the “powers that be” in our government and society;  our largest corporations, powerful lobbyists,  courts that legislate,  special interests, and a bloated and ineffective government that squanders our money for the sake of reelecting themselves.  We are all being robbed. Every single American citizen- rich, poor, religious, atheist, black, white,  latino,  left and right by treasonous leaders with suspicious allegiance to whoever helped them get where they are and a media with a vested interest in a never-ending battle between the parties. It’s an equality of theft !  Everyone is being mugged.  All these powers will continue to steal our liberty because the American people are not exercising their muscles of citizenship.  Remember it is “We the people”  here in America according to the very first words of our constitution.  It isn’t “we the corporations”, or “we the lobbyists”, or “we the government that knows better” or “we the media”.   These groups are slowly but surely replacing people as the sovereign of our nation.   In fact it would be easy to argue that this has already happened, but I hope and pray that’s not true.  It is time, my fellow Americans to remove this nemesis (THESE NEMESES?)  with Common Sense solutions.

 A WARNING !      

      It isn’t just new ideas that scare your ordinary person.  The problem with any new idea and way of looking at things is that the “powers that be” would be adamantly opposed to most solutions because most solutions would take away some of their “power” and they run the risk of no longer being a “power that is” but being a “power that once was”.   We as a people must be ready to stand up to the normal way of thinking and be prepared to understand and assume we will be opposed, no matter how wonderful the idea might be to us.  Imagine the British parliament and King George being excited that the American colonies were looking at independence.  Imagine the Pope being inspired that Martin Luther posted a list of protests on that church door in Germany back in the 1600’s and declared the Roman Catholic Church a fraud.  Imagine the wealthiest slave owners of the American south feeling open and agreeable to freeing their slaves so that the African people could be free humans – never mind that their wealth would quickly vanish along with said slaves.  These proposals will be adamantly opposed by most of the “powers that be”- the media, the political parties, the federal government industrial complex, the defense industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry and the energy industry.  The governments of 99% of the world’s population.  They will be opposed to these ideas the moment it comes out of your mouth, if not before you even finish your thoughts.  They will leap up to grab the words off your tongue and smash those thoughts upon the ground and stomp them into a bloody heap.  Be prepared for that.  

      I am a regular middle class American.  I have no formal education regarding government, other than the usual requirements of the modern Bachelor’s Degree.   I have a degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida and I work in the horticulture industry as a sales manager.   I work very hard and I want the best for my family, my community, and my country.   The differences between the reader and myself might be that I love to write, I have a passion for history and any kind of waste tends to send me over the edge.   These three things have mixed together in me creating a stew of frustration and anger as well as hope and optimism that has bubbled up to induce the book you hold in your hands (or read on your tablet). 

     The idea behind this book is two-fold.   First, we must expose the most pressing issues of the American government and define what the problems are.  Second, we need to imagine what could be accomplished with a government freed of its bloated tendencies and poised in the direction of enhancing the lives of all citizens not just for the rich, the poor or the moneyed special interests.   

       The federal government supports the poor through programs such as medicaid, welfare, food stamps, government housing and a various agencies designed to assist them in their poverty.  While I applaud the intentions to help those in need their “track record” is hardly impressive.  After decades of redistributing wealth to those in need, there is still poverty, drug addiction, violence and an absolute loss of hope by the citizens of American ghettos.  To say the spending of hundreds of billions of dollars over the last century has been at all helpful would be a farce, but I have no doubt those politicians that instigated the whole idea made off with a hefty share of the redistributed wealth.  Indeed, both parties have been especially adept at spending our money.   Much of it ends up on their estates back home or in their townhouses and the taverns of Georgetown, Washington DC.  The federal government also swings open the door of influence to the large corporations and their lobbyists who slither throughout Washington coiling around any and all legislation such that it benefits them the most.  We let them get away with it.  The media lets them get away with it (and probably benefits from it as well).  What of the backbone of the nation, the middle class-  the tradesman, the artisan, or small business ?  How is the government breathing health and stability in the vertebrae of America ?  The answer is that they don’t, and all their efforts are a never-ending battle between the two parties jockeying for power within the government –each with its opposite view of the role of government.  The middle is usually forgotten the minute elections are over.   Yes, they pay lip service to us but usually they simply tell us what they think we want to hear.  It’s all about “what the American people want”, but in reality it’s all about what they want and what their party wants.  The real needs of the everyday citizen are an afterthought. 

     The noblest of people are those that work to feed their family while working in their chosen field of interest.  The passions of the common man are the fountain of all human progress.  This can be seen in all significant human accomplishments.  It is not the efforts and accomplishments of large organizations but those of the person.   It is not the directives from large government or bureaucracies but the inventiveness and creativity of the people in the trenches with the true understanding of the obstacles to be overcome.