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THE
STATUE OF LIBERTY
Every American knows of the existence of the Statue of Liberty and
has seen a picture of it, but the story behind is not well known
and a believer of Democracy should know more about it. What is well
known is that the Statue of Liberty was given by the French government
to the American people and sculpted by a French sculptor, August
Bartholdi. .
That seems to be for the American government a wonderful deal. In
appearance the only thing they had to do was to receive a gift,
the statue. It was a very large and heavy statue, so the Americans
had to build a large pedestal made of stone and concrete. Money
had to be found by the American government or the City of New York
to build this pedestal.
The French created the "Union Franco American Committee"
to raise funds in France and after some reluctance, the Congress
accepted the Statue.
As the statue was to be erected on New York City land, it was assumed
that the City of New York, as well as the Federal Government would
come up with the money. However, the mayor, the United States President,
Glover Cleveland, and the richest and powerful inhabitants of New
York such as J.P. Morgan, Mr Vanderbilt and their wealthy friends
nicknamed the robbers baron, (at this time, New York was without
contest was the richest city in the United States), opposed very
strongly the idea of the Statue of Liberty standing on New York
soil. Because, they said, the Statue of Liberby will give
ideas of freedom to the poor who were almost slaves in their factories.
No money came from the rich Americans, no money came from
the mayor and the City of New York, no money came from the Federal
Government.
Many people, among them, a young journalist, Mr. Pulitzer,
decided to raise money nationwide, in many different ways to build
the necessary huge pedestal to erect the Statue of Liberty. They
started among other ways, to sell postcards, posters, little cups
with the statue picture on it and many other everyday objects. To
raise the very important sum for the pedestal they had to sell tens
of thousands of these objects involving an army of volunteers. Almost
all of them among the underprivileged classes. Despite the tremendous
efforts of tens of thousands of people the money raised was not
sufficient but that is a true example of a good side of democracy.
When people bind together to defend a just cause.
The same people became more inventive and the committee negotiated
a contract with many companies allowing these companies to use the
picture of the Statue of Liberty and the name to advertise their
products, any kind of products, drink, food, etc. in exchange for
money paid for building the pedestal.
They were still short of money and Mr. Pullitzer called on a poet,
Miss Emma Lazarus to write a poem, quote, "The New Colossus",
who became very famous, still now, and the first line read, "Give
Me Your Tired, Your Poor.....". And at the same time, as
there was a passionate momentum for this project, he raised the
remaining of the money by printing in his newspaper the list of
the donors among the poor, who gave pennies and dollars to raise
the amount of $102,000.
At the same time, Mr. Vanderbilt’s daughter gave a party dressed
as the Statue of Liberty. This party cost more than the money needed
for the Piedestal, and non of her money, or her friends money went
for the construction of the Piedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
On October, the
28 of 1886, the Statue was finished and erected after 21 years of
planning, sculpting and fund raising.
President Glover
Cleveland, did an about-face and attended the ceremony.
Women were forbidden
to attend the ceremony, but they stormed the island and the ceremony
anyway.
AUTHOR’S COMMENT
For such an important
symbol of democracy, a gift from France, only the will and
courage of the everyday people made possible for the Statue
of liberty to be erected on American land .
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THE SECOND
AMENDMENT
The
second amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America:
Under the title
"Right
to bear arms"
means the following:
A
well regulated militia, being necessary to the security off a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not
be infringed.
Proposed
September 25, 17189, ratified December 15, 1791.
Most unfair and opinionated people like the National rifle association
and the congressman paid by the N R A to support their business
refuse to read the second amendment in its entirety. They skip the
first part of the sentence.
We instead will study the second amendment in its entirety which
is made off three-parts.
Part 1,"A well
regulated militia"
Part 2: "being necessary to the security of a free
state"
Part 3, " the right of the people to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed."
Part 1:A well regulated
militia:
Militia:
means ; a group of citizens that get together and organize themselves
for the purpose of forming a small army. The opposite would be individuals
scattered around the country without any collective purpose.
Well regulated; means; a group that follows rules,
obey regulations: regulations can only be fashioned
by a government authority . The opposite would be people without
control and supervision.
From this first part we can see that well regulated are
the words that define best the spirit of this first part
Part 2: being necessary
to the security of a free state
The security: means: to protect the country from
external threat; for example from foreign armies.
A free State: means: that the state or country
is not ruled or dominated by any other state as it was the case
during colonial occupation.
Part 3 the right
off the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
It is written in plain English and a very down to Earth's sentence
which means that the citizens have the right to bear or keep arms.
When put together these
three parts means only one thing:
In order to defend their country Citizens should organize
themselves into a well regulated smallarmy under governement
authority and for this purpose they should be allowed to bear arms.
The opposite meaning would
be that
without the purpose to defend his country the citizen without being
organized in a well structured militia should be allowed to bear
arms.
Another false statement which
is absolutely not in the second amendment is that citizens without
being in a well regulated militia should be allowed to bear arms
in order to defend themselves.
Now we can see that private
interests such as the National rifle association and their friends
in the Congress are twisting and twisting again the second amendment
to further their business and sell more and more arms to individuals
.
There is a theory based on Thomas Jefferson's feeling and ideas
that puts forward the concepts that: If an American dictator took
over the government of the U S A , the American people should be
able to revolt against such a tyrant, and overthrow with him with
their arms. Thus the need to keep and bear arms.
In 1999 the
American army being so well equipped and so powerful, in order to
rebel against a dictator being the supreme commander of such an
army, each American would have to have at least a tank in his garage
and a rocket launcher in his closet. What was a virtuous possibility
in the 1770's has become a ludicrous proposition in the 1990's,
due only to the evolution of techniques . If you follow the National
Rifle Association reading of the second amendment to the letter
then American citizen should be allowed to purchase and bear arms
of any sorts as long as they can BEAR them, thus they could
carry shoulder missiles launcher and be able to shoot down plane.
How ludicrous is this proposition well it should be a consequence
of the NRA twisting of the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers
carefully began the second amendment with the words" A WELL
REGULATED MILITIA" in order to emphasize the importance of
the well regulated Militia and prevent what is happening now with
the NRA, which is the selling of arms to anybody outside a well
regulated Militia.
THE NRA ACTIONS ARE
THE ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE SECOND AMENDMENT MEANS.
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MAGNA
CARTA, YEAR 1215
August 31, 1999
After the premises of Democracy,
mostly during ancient Greece (circa, 600 BC – 338 BC) and the
early years of ancient Rome, (circa, 500 BC – 50 BC) there
was a large period over a millenium where no trace of Democracy
could be found around the world.
The first significant challenge
to a tyrant, other than by arms, was the strong demands to be recognized
as human beings with clear rights, that led to the writing and recognition
of a very important document in England granted by King John to
his barons.
Although the Magna Carta was
simply a written guarantee of the noble’s rights and privileges,
the Magna Carta was of lasting effects.
The reasons are the following:
- The Rights given to nobles
and free men were later extended to all classes and genders.
- Some clauses were later used
to limit the power of the King.
- The Magna Carta established
the idea that the King or the ruler had to respect the law.
You can see from #1 that the
Magna Carta was the ancestor of our Bill of Rights.
You can also see that by limiting
the powers of the King the Magna Carta shows that power can be shared
and thus divided among different parties, which was the base towards
an evolution to Democracy in England and later in the United States.
By mentioning that the King should
respect the law, it’s stated indirectly that all citizens are
equal, which is a fundamental element of Democracy.
MAGNA CARTA EXTRACT
John, by the grace of God,
king of England, lord of Ireland
duke of Mormandyand Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the
archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters,
sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege
subjects greeting.
In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our
present charter-confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that
the
English church shall be free, and shall have her rights entire.
We have also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us
and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to be
had and
held by them and their heirs, of us, and our heirs forever.
No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or diseased or exiled
or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor send
upon him,
except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of
the land.
It is a long list of claims,
63 paragraphs granted by King John and covering a lot of subjects
that will be included in the American Constitution. However king
John and his successors did not respect their signature and the
Magna Carta' provisions were not put into effect most of the time,
but it was a document of very significant importancee on which all
people will base their claim in the future.
You can find the full text at
www.fordham.edu.
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HAVE
NO FEAR NOW, MR. PRESIDENT
September 7, 1999
Why not transform what is called
a lame duck president, in his last months in office into an exceptionally
successful defender of the citizens who elected him?
We are going to base our strategy
on the following postulate:
A) Although the Republican
leaders, true Clinton haters, which, by the way, means that they
hate the twice democratically elected president of their country,
liked by the majority of the American people, will still try to
demolish the president. It seems however that they will have little
fuel to boost their bonfires.
B) Now that the president’s
agenda is cleared of scandals and major wars, it is time for him
to put forward all and each reform and legislative achievements
that Republicans parasitism delayed by their shabby tactics.
The principle is the following;
list each and every piece of legislation, which the American people
and President Clinton believes necessary for the good of the country.
Put through the Democratic Party
this legislation on the floor of the Congress and ask the congress
to vote for it. Here is a non-exhaustive list.
1) Close the loophole of the
gun fairs and implement safer gun control legislation
2) Education: This segment only will generate a lot of legislation
to be passed.
3)Healthcare, such as HMO reform and many others and prescription
drug co-payment.
4) Social Security reform, to prolong the viability of social security.
5) Minimum wage adjustment
Mr President put this list up
front and tell and repeat to the American people that you fought
for their agenda but the actual leaders of the Republican party
worked again the American people by delaying or upholding their
votes.
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September /15/ 99
IT’S THE EDUCATION STUPID
In the 21st century,
people will see that a good economy is not due to mysterious elements.
It’s the level and the number of highly trained and educated
people that makes the economy of the information age very strong.
The only real advantage that
the USA has over other nations is it’s lead in the information
technology, and to keep and develop this lead, you need to have
more and more people trained at a higher level. There is no way
around a better education.
For example:
a.) Funding the renovation of schools.
b) Hiring new teachers.
c) Training new teachers.
d) Retrain teachers on new technology.
e)Downsizing classrooms.
f)Implementing many other programs to help "left behind children
to catch up."
g)Implementing new programs to help children to catch up on new
technologies.
f)Expanding physical education, artistic programs, and hands on
technology programs for after hour’s activities, that will,
at the same time keep children active in the school environment
and out of trouble and improve their skills.
The Republican leaders and their
businessmen friends, instead of opposing strongly each and every
step of education improvement, should be the first to push for such
legislation. After all, a capitalistic and entrepreneur businessman
will make a lot more money out of a skilled work force in the information
age, which has been trained free of charge for him by the government
with taxpayer money than out of an illiterate work force. In other
words, owners and managers of large companies will have employees
with better output than before. The productivity thus will increase
at a high pace.
"By focusing on the business
of the people, for the people." President Clinton could achieve
an historical and wonderful goal: GIVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THE TOOLS
TO BE A SUCCESSFUL NATION IN THE NEXT CENTURY.
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THE ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS 1689AD
In 1689 the Parlement of England had the Monarchs sign a bill of
rights which definitively established the preeminence of the Parliament
over the King.
It is in one way a revival of
the Magna Carta but extended to the citizens with more precise provisions
which made the parliament which is the representative of the people
overwhelmingly powerfull.
This Bill of Rights of course
adressed protections Rights for the individuals such as; rights
of trials by jury,outlawed cruel punishment. However we were not
in a Democracy yet, mainly because only a small percentage of the
population was allowed to vote and because the Kings of that
century will not follow with any enthousiasm this bill of rights.
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THE
GLORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
October 10, 1999
When was the last time the whole
Nation was behind the Republican President?
It was during the eight years
of the Ronald Reagan presidency, then to a less extent behind the
George Bush presidency, especially during the Persian Gulf War.
President Reagan and President
Clinton enjoyed the same, very high rate of approval among the American
citizens.
If you remember, or watch again,
the news during President Reagan’s era, you will be amazed
to see how moderate, compared to today, were the critics against
his policies and more importantly they were not constant. What is
also very important, because it characterized the era, the form
through which the critics were delivered was not the constant mud
slinging and back - stabbing that we see against President Clinton.
The most important characteristic
of President Reagan was that by his genial personality, he lifted
the spirit of the Nation, (which was extremely low after the Jimmy
Carter presidency) to a very high level of confidence and optimism.
The whole Nation was confident
again, and other countries around the world viewed the United States
of America as a strong Nation again.
The United States dollar more
than doubled its value from the Carter era to the Reagan era.
Although not cited very often,
and recognized enough, restoring the American spirit was the main
achievement of President Reagan and a huge one.
A Nation operates in the same
way as a human being operates. In order to be able to live, take
action and be successful a person has to be a confident human being.
It is a necessary base, which is called self-esteem too, on which
people can build all the other
elements and success, among others.
President Reagan believed so
much in the great capabilities of the American people that he communicated
with them, his enormous confidence in them, and by doing this, they
again believed in themselves as the greatest country in the world.
This essential step restored
a sound base. President Reagan and the American people were able
to rebuild a great Nation. His political slogan could have been,
"if you elect me, we can be great again." And he delivered.
His successor, President Bush
started with this Nation that was in much better shape (although
not flourishing) than the one prior to the Ronald Reagan era.
Although not re-elected, his
mandate was characterized by two facts:
- By organizing the international
coalition that won, the Gulf War, he sent a tremendous message
to the American people, first, and to the rest of the world
later. "We are not hampered by the Vietnam War syndrome
anymore, we are an efficient and confident military power."
- His personality was one
of a very, very decent honest man, but unfortunately for him,
he was never able to communicate in a way that would let the
American people understand his inner person. But even his strongest
critics in the Democratic Party did not use the mud slinging
and backstabbing that we see today.
The New Element in our
modern era that completely changed the behavior of the opposing
party towards the Presidents was the rise to power of Newt Gingrich
and his followers.
Very similarly to the now anti-Communist,
Mac Carthy, Senator in the 1950’s. Newt Gingrich has used the
method that "you can use any means of destruction in order
to achieve your goal." That is the philosophy Newt Gingrich
poisoned the Republican Party with, and that is still the philosophy
of most of the Republican leaders today.
This philosophy has been condemned
as illegal today, even between two different Nations at war, but
it is the philosophy that prevails today among Republican leaders
and that Philosophy was set up by Newt Gingrich. When you apply
this policy, which is similar to an Army using poison gas, you have
but one result; you will not destroy the opposing party. You
will destroy your country.
The Republican party and its
great values have only one chance of survival, and one chance of
contributing to the well being of a democratic country, it is to
abandon this. "All means can be used," philosophy and
get rid through the election process of the defenders of this philosophy.
The Nation needs Republicans
such as President Ronald Reagan and President George Bush; will
these days come again?
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