Guard against those whose messages make us curious, seduce with their fascination, and captivate with their sincerity. Make no mistake about the nature of all those that seek to rule over you. To quote George Washington, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” Do those that seek to rule over you, intrigue you? Then you will be wise to understand that ruling by intrigue is a high skill of government that seeks only your submission, not your liberty!

The latest polls indicate that 70% of Americans believe that our country is headed in the wrong direction. Those that claim to understand the polls would have us believe there will be a major change of political party control as a result. But that doesn’t mean a major change in the direction of the country. If recent history is any indicator, the political party in control does not accurately reflect the true desires of the people. A change in political party control similarly will have little to do with changing the country’s direction.

WOTUS? Another acronym! We live in a world of acronyms. It makes people feel isolated if they aren’t up to speed with the latest techno-speak. Examples include the USA, UN, NATO, EPA, ISIS or ISIL, the IRS, DHS, DOD, DOE, BLM just to name a few. WOTUS means Waters Of The United States!

Stewardship is defined as “the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving”! Liberty is: “freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control; freedom from external or foreign rule; and freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc., power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.”

Whenever the health of the American republic is in serious decline, who will take action? You might ask, “What republic?” It is a rare occasion today when anyone refers to our nation as a republic. Our President, governors, senators/congressmen, government bureaucrats, teachers/professors in our schools and institutes of higher learning, the printed and electronic media and the average Joe on the street all “think” of us as a democracy.

If we don’t know what is right and true, how will we ever recognize what is wrong? Notice the people today that just don’t want to get involved. It is more than apathy beginning with a lack of knowledge.

In this series, you have been challenged to think about the meaning of words we use every day such as truth, politics, and the law. Justice is the focus of this article. The dictionary defines justice as: the quality of being just; fair treatment, and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law; rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim; the quality of being true or correct; or the moral principle determining just conduct.

This whole article began with a simple frustration that many people don’t seem to grasp the basic need to include “truth” as an essential part of how they think. Seemed simple enough, do a Google search on “truth”, and understanding should follow!

When Benjamin Franklin was asked, following the Constitutional Convention, what kind of government our new nation would have, he replied, “a Republic, if you can keep it!” If you asked the average citizen today, most believe we are a democracy. Few people understand the significant difference between a democracy and a republic, and yet this is one of the most fundamental principles that we must embrace today in protecting freedom.

Collectivism is defined as the practice or principle of giving a group (the collective) priority over individual members. Individualism is belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence for society to succeed. The terms social justice, fairness and equal rights are also a part of collectivism. Collectivism believes that society is some type of super-organism that exists over and above the individual members and must be considered the primary unit of reality and standard of value.