There have been a lot of articles lately about politics. It’s always liberal vs. conservative, right vs. wrong, Republican vs. Democrat, communism vs. capitalism.

Our country doesn’t have to work this way, but philosophical adversaries tend to argue (go figure).

The difference in opinion is what runs our political machine, and as faulty as that machine is, it is the device that runs our country.

The two major parties are divided on grounds that are intertwined and weighty issues, but it is possible to divide those philosophies into major components, as above.

My basis for my beliefs are financial and historical.

The issues that are most important to me come from my belief system: in a free country, people have the ability to do for themselves, and should.

They should not rely on someone to take care of them. Financially, this is probably because I work until the end of May for government, and then I get some of my paycheck.

Government spends money trying to “help” people using money I earned (and you earned), instead of letting those people earn that money on their own.

What percentage of tax revenue is national defense, which is a Constitutional duty of government? It is nowhere near the average 35 percent that most people pay in taxes.

Some would say that national defense should be the only purpose of government, and if you want true freedom, that just might be.

Historically, my beliefs come from studying actual historical events, not rewritten history.

Talk to your grandparents about the Great War, or World War II, or even just life in the old days.

Our country was made of survivors because each took care of his own and did not infringe on other peoples rights. In church, they teach that behavior as proper.

We are on the path to a very scary country. If you haven’t read 1984, read it. If you have, read it again. That story is coming true today.

An example? OK. Bill Clinton supports state-mandated curfews, as

do many other politicians.

Why does the state get to tell a free people when to go inside? My mom used to tell me.

Hitler did the same thing in the ’30s and ’40s, and so did the “bad old” Soviet Union. Did anyone think of those countries as free?

My opinion is that the machine needs to be replaced. We were given that right, that DUTY, in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution by our forefathers.

With all of the corruption and career politicians in Washington, little of substance is accomplished except waste.

All I see happening is a greater intrusion into our private lives by big government, and I resent it.

We have a constitution for a reason — those are the rights of a free people.

If the document were stripped of all of its amendments, and people began to believe in being good, going to church, etc., and taxes were reduced so we are no longer subsidizing a quasi-communist state, I would be a happy man.

Stop relying on the government to take care of you, and do for yourself. I wish I could.

The virtue of a free government is that the more freedom you have, the less government you need to have.

Thomas E. Draur

Academic Advisor

Graduate Student

Environmental Engineering