America is about can-do, must-do, will-do, individual responsibility for the world around us, not about waiting for government to intercede, making excuses, blaming others, class warfare, or putting off the necessary in favor of convenience—time to get on it.
We are who we are – as Americans, as a free nation, and free individuals – because we consciously chose to act responsibly, elect leaders who are fiscally and morally responsible, understand limited government, are respectful of America’s true history, and honor the intent of our founding generation.
We are who we are because, over 250 years as a nation, we have taken responsibility for our government and lives, choosing to do the hard thing over and over, not the easy.
At some point in life, we each choose to work, learn, and grow, how to get up after stumbling, how to stop admiring the problem, making excuses, and mumbling. We figure out what responsibility means.
Watching power get concentrated across America – the taking of power from individuals by ideologies justifying increased dependence – alarm bells should go off. From Maine and New York City to Minnesota and California, an ideological movement is growing to end individual rights and responsibility, replacing them with the false promise that lockstep conformity and belief that government has godlike powers to solve all problems is the answer to what ails us. It is not.
We too often forget the obvious. World history teaches one thing for certain: More government always translates into less liberty, always and without exception; concentrated power – daily happening in states across America – ends in unchecked abuse.
What used to be called “tyranny” now goes by new names, “lawfare,” “cancelling,” shaming for adhesion to family and tradition, condemnation for grounded ideas, free markets, supply and demand, border security, parental rights, and belief in the Christian and Jewish faiths, “identity politics” (which replaces personal rights with group rights), then blatant and uncontrolled spending, overtaxing, vilification of private-sector job creators, rise (and acceptance) of interpersonal hatred, the “politics of personal destruction” and justifications for political violence.
These are ALL the products of concentrated power, which defends more concentration in order to suppress those who oppose concentration.
This has happened throughout history, as ideologies from the Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese dynasties, and European monarchs ruled by divine right of kings to Marxist, Leninist, Stalinist, and Maoist communism; from autocrats and paternalistic empires to fascists indifferent to citizen rights.
The sleight of hand, the trick, the deception is just this, that power is ever concentrated for ultimate good, except perhaps when a nation seeks to defend itself from foreign or internal threats – such as during America’s Revolutionary, Civil, WWI, and WWII moments – and then only briefly.
Gathering power always means suppressing citizen rights with different types of government coercion, mandates, regulations, restrictions, overspending, overtaxing, indifference to debt, self-justifying decisions, growing lawlessness until the hammer falls – all at the expense of individual rights.
Lesson three: Ignoring the signs of a power vortex, a moment in history when power is being taken in exchange for rights, is like thinking the bathtub will stay forever full as you watch water being whisked into the vortex and down the drain. When you feel the government tugging at you from all directions, seeking to move you off your rights, you are often being robbed of your rights. That can be personal, parental, economic, or may relate to speech, worship, protest, gun ownership, false penalties, failure to enforce laws, or simple free movement.
Only by stepping up to force a stop to the taking is the concentration of power stopped; put a drain plug in, and the power of the vortex is broken.
Our Founding generation – and every generation since – would expect that of us, especially at this 250th anniversary of their early commitment to the individual rights we all enjoy. Time to get on it.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
RBC, excellent article. The problem is that those who have been taken in by the rhetoric of the socialists will continue to support the enemy not realizing that they are giving away their freedoms. Since education was hijacked by the liberals, most people of the last 30 years only believe what they were taught in school by these liberals. Will the people step up to correct the problem? The upcoming midterm election will tell which direction that the nation will take.
ANOTHER wonderful article, RBC!
Too bad no one reads but us ol’ folks. See if’n you can get this onto TikTok…..
VOTE VOTE VOTE
Have to REMOVE the DC RNC Estd Swamp to Move ahead or Nothing changes
& ID Marxists for office too nationwide
I would like to challenge AMAC to take up the fight for our elderly who have become the number one target of the Internal Revenue Service. The Biden Administration that wanted to put all the new agents, with guns, had to change their approach, and they did. They have targeted the elderly with every tax scheme possible to drain them of their money. The biggest problem is that none of the money amounts have been inflated to rise with inflation since the late 80’s or early 90’s. House prices have doubled along with every product we buy. The housing deduction when you sell your home, $500,000 sounds like a lot. But with inflation the average price is $430,000. If you lose a spouse and don’t sell your home within 2 years, you will lose $250,000 of that deduction. Your base will be what you have paid for the home 20 or 30 years ago. This is just one of many traps the IRS has set for the elderly. The intention is to take this money from the middle class and direct it to DEI. Yes DEI is alive and well within the IRS. RMD’s from your 401K, 457, and all of your pre tax savings plans can force you into huge increases in your amounts taken from you for Medicare Premiums. No idea why people that paid FICA taxes their entire working careers are paying this in the first place, but we are. Seniors need Estate planning to try to pass on their legacy to their kids, but the IRS is standing with their hands out to relieve you of your wealth when you die, and your retirement years.
Banking rules have also been changed recently in ways that fleece seniors of their money also under the guise of money laundering schemes used by illegal acts. Congress needs to look over all of this mess the Democrats have made to drain the elderly of their life savings. AMAC needs to address this issue and have elder care attorneys researching and informing their members of these new rules in banking, and the trip levers that are draining the elderly of their wealth.
A good start would be is to teach people about the problems with the democrats agenda,look at the disasters in Illinois,Oregon,California,New York and many other leftist states.They all love to chase the tax base out and whine when they move,what in the h#!! do they expect.It really shows a lack of common sense in the politicians and the”nincompoops”that vote for them.
I don’t care a bit about what you said. But congratulations to Mitch McConnell on being brain dead lol
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trump has used lawfare against others more than anybody else in the history of the united states
that’s very rich that you complain about concentrated power when you fully support trump having concentrated power, f u