Government parable

There was a man named Jack who was ambitious and determined to be successful in life. He was proud to be an American and took advantage of the many opportunities his country provided him. He learned a trade and secured a good job in order to provide for his family.

After some time working for others, Jack saw the opportunity to start his own business. He knew it would take hard work and sacrifice, but he was determined to succeed in an honest and honorable way.

After 10 years working his business, Jack had 25 employees who depended on him. One day he decided that he would hire a manager to run his business so that he could devote more time with his family and enjoy life. Jack gave his newly hired manager a decent salary with bonuses. Being conscientious about his products and business, Jack gave the manager certain rules and policies in running his business. He told the manager to keep him informed about the progress of the business and not to disregard his rules and policies.

It wasn't long when the manager began to ignore Jack's rules or keeping him informed how the business was doing. The manager became arrogant and disrespectful to Jack, to the point he would make decisions contrary to what was in the best interest of Jack. The manager acted as if the business was his and even shared the business profits with other people without the owner's consent.

As a consequence to the manager's actions, the business became burdened with heavy debts and taxes. Jack had trusted his manager, but the manager became powerful and self-conceited and took advantage of his boss. Jack decided that it was time to confront the manager about his abuses and went to the business.

When Jack arrived at the shop, he found the doors locked and had different locks, realizing he couldn't even get inside his own business. Jack knocked at the door and the manager completely ignored Jack and told him that he was now in charged and knew better than he did how to run his business and was going to share the profits with others.

Jack became irate over the manager's actions and decided to seek help from the police in order to gain access to his own business. The police told Jack that the manager had "possession" of the business. The police were told by the judge that Jack had lost his rights to his own business, because the manager had told them that the owner had "abandoned" his business.

So Jack went to see a lawyer to seek legal remedy but quickly was told by the lawyer that the laws had been changed and the manager had every right to "take" his business. Jack told the lawyer that this was unconstitutional. The lawyer quickly informed Jack that times had changed and the U.S. Constitution was being considered by Congress as a "living document," therefore they could ignore the original meanings and should be interpreted according to the times we live in.

Jack realized that he waited to late to do something about protecting his business, and that he had relied too much on the Constitution not being misinterpreted or changed, the judge rendering only equal justice and for law enforcement to protect him, and for his "hired" manager to take care and protect his rights and his business.

The moral of the story is this: Don't rely solely on your elected and "hired" representatives in government to protect your rights and your properties. We the people need to be aware and diligent about the affairs of our government and maintain the relationship that the government is of the people and for the people, and that our U.S. Constitution says what it said then and now, and needs to be protected from all threats, both domestically and foreign.

Once the government is turned upside down, We the people become nothing more then mere servants whose rights and freedoms are gradually taken away as government becomes more powerful. This is not what our Founding Fathers set up for our Republic to be. Jack lost his business because he relied "on others" to protect his rights and his business.

We the people need to be proactive about the affairs of our government. Before you vote, make sure you know who you are voting for to be your representative in government, demand they keep you informed and that they follow the will of the people. Insist and vote for term limits and a fair tax system. Why do the politicians ignore doing this? Are they above the will of the people? The longer they remain in office the more the possibility of becoming corrupt or conceited. If we, the American citizens, don't protect our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, who will?

Don't be like Jack who lost his business. We can't afford to lose our great nation, especially from within.

Vinny Martinez

Brooksville