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\nIn these United States, we have the “right” to vote. But how much of our voting is based on the laws of this land and those in a position to make this land better for all, instead of a popularity contest? In a recent newspaper article in the USA TODAY, dated April 27, 2012; there was an article titled “Immigrants Shine on U.S. civics lessons-But survey finds native citizens need to study up”. This article grabbed my attention; to say the least.<\/p>\n
The civics portion of the citizenship is 10 questions, drawn from a test bank of 100 questions, found at the Citizenship and Immigration<\/a> website.\u00a0 To pass, an immigrant needs to get 6 out of 10 correct.\u00a0 I guess the thing that struck me was that the information in the citizenship test, is the same information found in basic Civics classes.\u00a0 Just two of the\u00a0 highlights from the article include:<\/p>\n These United States are the worlds gold standard of democracy, yes, we may have our internal bickering; but based solely on the number of people immigrating (both legally and illegally) we, as a country are doing something right.\u00a0 Most of my friends are originally from other countries; and as such I find myself blessed to share in their dreams, frustrations and thankfulness that they have had the opportunity to immigrate to this great country.<\/p>\n We, as a native born citizens, can learn a lot from our immigrants.\u00a0 For the most part (and this IS a generalization) they take more interest in politics and the effects of our nations policies than the average “Joe” working 40 hours a week.\u00a0 Our immigrants feel a responsibility to their adopted country,\u00a0 it seems there is a growing percentage of native born americans (the small “a” is intentional) that feel their country has a responsibility to them; which is just the opposite.<\/p>\n Thinking along these same lines, I don’t think every American should be a civics whiz, but, we should have a basic understanding of our government, how it works and how it impacts us, as citizens.<\/p>\n Our officials are elected and appointed as set forth in the US Constitution.\u00a0 Our nation is a\u00a0constitutional (representative) republic, not a democracy:\u00a0 Our President is not elected by the people, he\/she is elected by the Electoral college, which is made up of our representatives.\u00a0 Our Supreme court’s judges are appointed, not elected by the citizens.\u00a0 Our Senators were originally appointed by their home states, but are now elected by the citizens of their district (for the record, I am of the opinion that the Senators should<\/span> be appointed by their state – they are there to do the states business<\/em>).\u00a0 Only the House of Representatives are (and have been) elected by the citizenry of their districts they represent.\u00a0 Our nation is made or broken by those we elect.\u00a0 So, as you can see, we are a\u00a0constitutional (representative) republic, trending towards a representative democracy.<\/p>\n This opens a whole new question, what represents a constitutional (representative) republic (i.e. the law of the land – the US Constitution) and what represents a representative democracy (i.e. popular and mob rule)?\u00a0 That is a topic and argument for another day, but I’ll give this <\/a>to you for your reading pleasure.<\/p>\n Back to our conversation for the day: immigration.\u00a0 Before an immigrant can become a naturalized citizen, they must take the “Oath of Allegiance to the United States” How many natural born americans (other than those of us who have served this great country) would take this oath:<\/p>\n “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Constitution is the law of our United States, period.\u00a0 Our legally naturalized citizens have sworn to\u00a0 protect this land, and our rule of law, when required to do so.\u00a0 for those of us who have served this great land; this sentence is life changing, and potentially has many unintended consequences (i.e. loss of life or limb).<\/p>\n I cannot think of a single legalized immigrant that does not provide some sort of benefit for this great land, instead of leaching off of society; like many of our natural born citizens (welfare recipients know who they are!).\u00a0 I know of a man that was a researcher\/scientist from India, who currently supports his family by working construction.\u00a0 When I asked him why, he simply says with a gleam in his eye; “look at my daughter, for her.” That is what our great nation is all about it; leaving it a better place than we found it.<\/p>\n\n
“…I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…”<\/em><\/h6>\n