the magic of Christmas eves past
Looking back at Christmas Eves past, a special memory I hold was my parents would keep the tree lights on the entire night. With eager delight of what was to come in the morning, I’d stare out my bedroom door looking at the miniscule muti-colored glow of light casting down the hallway until tiredness swept over me and I fell asleep. With the Christmas jitters coursing through my veins, before dawn I’d wake up and slowly creep down the hallway, the tree’s glow guiding me. In the living room, with all the gifts scattered about, the excitement was almost uncontrollable knowing Santa made it, especially in the years where Dad had just been transferred. Now, on the parent side, until they climbed out of bed, one was only allowed to take down their stocking and a quick trip back to bed to quietly rip through.
As a kid, it was the only time of year better than birthdays where gifts rolled out in abundance from the jolly fat man who watched out for those who were good, and conversely, even naughty. In youth, I eagerly anticipated the season without doubt, but was oblivious to the world around me. So much so, money was an inconsequential part of life, because outside of Santa, my parents supplied everything needed. I was living the life of a military dependent growing up on bases around the globe, where everything was confined to a world one could freely roam. My parents as well, kept me secure in the foundation of being supplied. My dad, a warrior, was the epitome of leaving work at work, home at home. And mom, no words can relay. It is hard to describe a feeling I never really thought about. Everything was almost just perfect.
Then, as I morphed into a teenager, money became a part of life, a hard knock I had to learn, especially if I wanted something the parents or Santa decided against. I was sixteen when he finally proved a fake, discovering the truth behind the fiction. It was devastating as my parents described the fallacy and not to expect what I believed he would deliver. He was a phantom who only provided what my parents purchased. He lived via their generosity, their hard-earned money, their desire to give. Saint Nick, dependent on another’s cash to fulfill the promise of attainable dreams, delivering another’s gifts, yet taking all the credit.
Then, when I left home, let’s just say money became consequential, and I missed Santa. Although, me, Mastercard and nirvana: We did it all! At least we tried. But I soon discovered, spending more than I made had repercussions. Add insult to injury, just because there are checks in the checkbook, doesn’t imply there’s money in the account. Yes, I was a dim bulb, a daydreamer, aloof, those around me always wondering if the switch would ever flip. Looking back on my beliefs then, and in light of what I now know, how can one really ever believe in make believe?
So, along with my life lessons and Santa’s image, the magic sphere of evolution in government has evolved. Defined – a progression from a simple form to a more complex one. In America, two branches exist to apparently always promise the outlandish, the all-encompassing. Oz behind the magic curtain where modern politics has become the equalizer, or equitizer. Truthfully though, the concept is nothing more than the albatross known as vote buying, and it will have a final cost. Just like parents at Christmas with their joy of gift giving only to feel the pain of overindulging when the credit statements roll in, and the bills are due. But government today, the belief instilled, supplying financial security and balancing the masses monetarily by taking from one and giving to another. The antithesis of the Framer’s vision for America, yet now the calling card of America. Except it all boils down to attainable truths, fallible misconceptions, misguided prevarications, or outright deceit.
But government, by original design was a system meant to be fed, not feed, as it only consumes, while not producing the magic elixir quantified as money. The same currency it constitutionally prints, and regulates, but does not earn, just spends, having to take to give if the premise of a promise is even within its scope. A question of truth needing address with the juxtaposition: citizens must understand the framing documents we all live under for a reason. Is it government’s function to support, and maintain living parameters, like parents for children? Or is one’s ability to achieve independence predicated on their abilities and their personal desire to excel? Government providing the path, not the means.
In my young adult money struggles, the lesson of spending less than I made took sacrifice to put into practice. The antithesis of childhood when the thought of Santa’s visit only needed wide-eyed wonderment. Yet today, society expects government promises, making Congress, in essence, the essence of Santa Claus. Only, in reality, every depiction of the jolly fat man, like the Executive and Legislative branches, is untrue. A vicious cycle of intentional obfuscation to lure the masses into confusion. In conjunction, pile on consumerism, available credit, the constant bombardment of wants to make life easier, and viola, is the concept of controlled spending, hard lessons I had to learn, even valid anymore? Although, one question should beg. What did the Framer’s believe, when it came to an individual’s money:
There is, perhaps, nothing more likely to disturb the tranquility of nations than their being bound to mutual contributions for any common object that does not yield an equal and coincident benefit. For it is an observation, as true as it is trite, that there is nothing men differ so readily about as the payment of money. (Federalist 7)
If it’s even possible anymore, ponder constitutional design, based on the Framer’s thought processes, when the nation upheaved from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution. Article I/Section 8 – to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States … The key word being - general. Defined: The whole; the total; that which comprehends all or the chief part; opposed to particular. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
If one can only look beyond the intent of deceit, the Framer’s of our nation understood and tried to protect what legislators today assiduously strive to destroy, small government. Their belief then, allowing one to supply their own “Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness,” unlike government today providing such. While nothing happens in a vacuum, except Santa, or Congress, the believable part of make-believe; money is consequential to the nation’s health. What I had to learn to keep from going bankrupt, the nation needs to grasp; the idea of not spending what it doesn’t have or taking what it doesn’t earn. Two simple truths to reflect - Government requires money to run, and there is no such thing as free. Although, when it comes to money, one does need weigh; whose, how much, and to which extreme? Anyway, going back to those Christmas Eve’s past, by the time the night rolled around to morning, even after watering the tree regularly, pine needles were all over the floor. It’s a wonder, by leaving the lights on all night, it never self-combusted. Ahh, the magic of Christmas, including government and its goal to be a caricature of Santa Claus. Let’s just hope it can continue to glow like all those Christmas trees of yore, and not self-combust.
Yep. Like Santa Claus with his candy canes and toys, Big Government gives us bread and circuses -- as if it's all free.