If you can keep it…

Dear Editor,

During the founding of our Constitution, the motto was, “‘eternal vigilance is the price we pay for liberty.” We the people, need to be involved, educated and engaged, in order to maintain our liberties that are enumerated in the Constitution. Personal liberty requires personal responsibility. We all need to speak up and share whatever experiences and concerns we have. This is why our first amendment, freedom of religion and speech, was so important.

I would like to give an example of the difference in a Democracy and a Republic at a fourth grade level. If we have true Democracy, then when over half of a classroom decides that left-handed students should be thrown out, the majority of students have the right to do that, and the teacher would help them with this action. In a Democracy, you have no rights against the majority. Any rights can change at any time, depending on who has the majority.

In a Republic, you elect representatives. They are responsible to act in accordance with pre-stated rules, like, the rights of an individual. The teacher, as a representative of authority, is obliged to protect the left-handed students, because they have rights that even the majority cannot take away.

We have an incredibly wonderful form of government that many nations envy. Our Founders had done an immense amount of research on Democracies. They found that they had always failed. Our Constitutional Republic was difficult to achieve, and was paid for with much blood, sweat and tears. Furthermore, to maintain it requires this eternal vigilance. Here is one way to be involved. Keep your eye on the Idaho Administrative Rule development process that allows for public input.
Maureen Paterson

Priest River