Good Morning,

This was written in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper November 29, 1802. Thomas Jefferson was our third President, serving from 1801 to 1802, over 220 years ago. Ancient history? Does this not apply?

A people with all of their basic needs unmet will work and take great satisfaction in being successful in meeting those needs and the needs of their families. They will, throughout their lives strive to improve their plight and, normally, with great success. It is natural to want to succeed. People who have all of their needs met without the need to do the work still want to succeed. They will look to other endeavors to meet that need. Many times it is demanding more, more, more as if merely getting more for free from the government will do the trick.

It seems like our society is well into this phase where the Government continues to promise always more in exchange for remaining in power. The US is 34.63 trillion in debt. That is $34,000,000,000,000 or $100,000 for every man, woman, & child in the United States. Where will it end? As the old saying goes, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

I’m not sure any of us can, individually, solve the problem, particularly at the national level. All great things start local, in areas where individual citizen or small group of citizens can, by working together, make a difference. It grows to regional, state, and then national.

If you are concerned and believe that "wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them" is not a good thing, this week, take the first step and get involved in some small way. It is time that “We the people” stand up for, what else: "We the people."

Jim