It’s been an ongoing problem for some time. I’m not one to argue it’s less seen, on either side of the political aisle.

That said, the point I’m discussing here, is a sad, unfortunate, merging of the branches of governmental power, here in the United States.

By intent, there were and are, three distinct governmental prongs, in this country. I have a funny feeling, if you were to ask the average college student—forget high school—what those branches of government are called, they would in the best case, have issues answering.

You and I know them to be the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.

I hope you recognize their purposes as well.

By way of quick summation, the executive branch does just what the name implies, it relates to things like policing. Essentially, it enforces the law.

The legislative is equally aptly named. Its job is to manage the laws written—including to write new ones, where called for—such that they fall within the existing framework. That is, they should either be inside, or supersede, existing law.

The judicial branch of government, is the group responsible for deciding matters of law. Is this person or that group, in compliance with, or outside of the laws as currently written? They can also be said to be responsible for deciding the fate, of those in breach of law.

In these present days though, it appears to be fashionable, for each of these three, to attempt in some way, to usurp the authority of the others.

The judicial, uses interpretation of law, based on feelings, common sentiment, opinion, and legal concepts, from outside the borders of the country, to essentially rewrite what the legislative, has penned. This is often referred to as activism in the judiciary.

The legislative, attempts to encroach on the activities of the judiciary in various ways, and on the workings of the executive in others. For the judicial, an example would be congressional hearings, that claim the authority to judge and potentially even punish wrongdoing. The second part of that example, can be seen as taking over part of the executive function.

And the executive is no better. The famous, “I have a pen and a phone.” statement, made by our previous president, is an excellent example.

To say that the power of executive orders has been vastly overused, would seem to be a definite understatement. When you consider that the original purpose for that tool, was very likely to implement existing legislation, that becomes pretty clear.

Here’s the thing though. What all of this points to, is not what you might think.

Don’t get me wrong, the fact that the people in various positions of power routinely and roundly abuse that power, is a problem.

Considering that, you must still ask yourself a probing question, “How did they get there?”

There are arguments to the effect that a large part of the problem, is the complexity of the systems that’ve been generated over the course of time. I’m not trying to maintain there’s not some truth to that reality.

Even so, the larger problem in my view, is not that level of difficulty.

What does it come down to, in large part? The simple answer can be summed up in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”

Read more: https://www.searchquotes.com/search/Jefferson_On_Informed_Electorate/#ixzz6ceTUzanJ

It cannot be argued, that the population at large bears no responsibility in this.

Though that’s true, the real problem lies squarely in two places.

The first of these, is the home. When parents don’t adequately understand, what makes a people successful and prosperous, they’ll be unable to pass that information, down to their progeny. Thing is, this is largely a result of what happens in the second location.

That second venue would be places of learning, whether schools, extended family, churches, synagogues, mosques, social settings, or whatever

In the case of places dedicated to education, the first issue I see, is the lack of a requirement for educators, to first understand, then teach, civics.

In fact, it’s become relatively commonplace, for individuals to find their way, into the educational system, who routinely, abjectly fail, to understand how this country, has become one of the richest in the world.

It’s also commonly true, that people in such positions are absolutely convinced, the children they’re paid to teach, are often in horrible poverty.

Keep in mind, this is said of families with houses, often multiple cars, smartphones, and more than one television in the home. To be sure, most of them have barely ever missed a meal, but through choice on someone’s part.

Another consideration, is that purveyors of “higher learning,” have often been co-opted by left-leaning persons, in order to teach ideologies, counter to those that made us what we are today.

The result is, young adults are often indoctrinated into belief sets that not only don’t help things, but actively harm them.

To say that the United States has been moving in directions that are horribly counter to what’s led to the vast reduction in poverty seen here and elsewhere in the world, would be a serious understatement.

Making matters worse, many of the folks who run for political office, are self-serving in the extreme; and since the majority of Americans are woefully uneducated as to what their country is about, it’s not within them to see this is the case.

We’re rapidly descending into a state, where it’s hard to imagine redemption.

We have governmental administrative entities, operating on autopilot, regardless who makes their way into authority.

Unless people wake up to what’s occurring, it’s highly unlikely any of this will change. If it’s to be fixed, the amount of work needed to cause that change to occur, is already highly onerous.

My message? We must begin to bring people and requirements, back into the education of our youth, that allow them to see where we are, and contrast that against where should be. This must happen in homes, social gatherings, and schools to be particularly effective. The time to begin that process is now. The road ahead is long. If nothing else, as parents, people should work to understand what’s actually beneficial, and pass that knowledge, on to their children.

Thanks for reading, and may your time be good.