Just Pretty Words

My question is:  What philosophies shape the direction of a nation?

Our forefathers had philosophies that were implemented into the Constitution of a new nation. 

Where did these philosophies originate?  From England, of course, a country founded on the caste system.  How could our American forefathers not be influenced by this?

Even though the American forefathers had an eye toward freedom, they also could not ignore that their own backgrounds included a system of beliefs that all men are not created equal.  And that experience influenced them to imagine what a nation could become if every man were allowed to pursue his own idea of life and citizenship in a nation of free thinking men.

Let us not forget that women were not considered full citizens of any nation at the time and therefore were not included in the dream of freedom.

Women and blacks were therefore not included in the ideal that existed in what would become the American Constitution.  As a matter of fact, women and blacks were considered three fifths of a human being.  Those words can be found today in the American Constitution and that has not changed since the American forefathers penned the American Constitution.

The question comes to mind:  How does that ancient influence effect politics today?

I believe that philosophy influences every male in American politics and effects the belief systems of every politician and influences his idea of what America is and should be.  I believe prejudices against people, women and blacks specifically, still exist in the minds of our governing men and continual effort is made to keep those prejudices alive in the minds of every politician, be they minority or otherwise.

These prejudices influence the lives of every citizen of America.  These beliefs stand in the background of every decision made by our governing bodies.  Much effort is made to hide these beliefs and pretty words cover the underlying current that flows from each member of any governing body. 

The two governing bodies that exist in American politics are labeled Democratic and Republican.  Both bodies function to serve the people but each has its own philosophy and those philosophies have become unclear. 

The Republican conservative ideal is designed to stifle the minds of Americans into servitude to a philosophy that dictates that the masses should remain uneducated, unemployed, unfulfilled as human beings, barefoot and pregnant.  What better way to control citizens than to keep them buried in the confusion of survival.  This philosophy keeps citizens from asking questions and befuddled by things they feel they cannot understand or influence, therefore leaving the governing of their very lives to people they have no choice but to trust.

The Democratic ideal consists of the philosophy that every person has the right to ask questions and demand answers and expect their government to provide care and proper sustenance.  Hence, the continual ideal that life should always improve has fostered an American conception of life that has made America a great nation.

But the undercurrent of prejudices still flows in and through the lives of the people and they forget that our nation was founded on the secondary belief that all men are created equal and instead must focus on keeping their families and themselves alive day to day.  No one has the time or the energy to discuss the conflicts in the philosophies that effect and shape life in America.

Until both these philosophies are defined and drawn out to their logical conclusion, America will continue to be rocked by the waves of conflict that exist in our hallowed halls of justice and equality.