Things We Shouldn't Just Assume

They say that Isac Newton "discovered" gravity when an apple fell from a tree and hit him on the head or whatever. Well everybody before him always "assumed" that UP was up and DOWN was down and that was the end of the matter. When I was young I assumed that Time and Space naturally went on forever. Nobody had to create them, they just existed on their own. When a baby cries he "assumes" some parent will hear him and attend to his needs. We we grow older we see the utter foolishness of this assumption. The trouble is some Christians are still looking for some cosmic hand to reach down and save them from their troubles. In Ezekiel they assumed that Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon would always go on forever, because as far as anyone can remember they have always been there. The Babylonians had a thing or two to say about that. And we in modern society have come to assume things our ancestors wouldn't dare assume. For instance that when we switch on an appliance it will work and there will always be hot and cold water running from our taps. And when it isn't so we think it's the end of the world. Many people think life itself will go on forever because "as long as they can remember" they have always been alive and cannot imagine any other kind of existence. But once again we are assuming things. The Aztecs assumed some Messiah figure was going to come from the Sea and somehow bring about a great new order. What they actually got was something entirely different. And we here in America assume that Democracy is something that we will always enjoy and that our constitution is safe. But once again we don't know this. 35 years ago I was among those who assumed that if Red China adopted things from our economy, then other western values like Democracy would naturally come along with it. We have all had a rude awakening there. We used to assume America would always be number one in things like education and invention and scientific inovation. We assume that we will always be able to vote on election day. Even in the middle of major wars with as the Civil War and World War II we took time out to go through a Presidential campaign. But today we appear to be losing our influence. Our votes become increasingly meaningless as corporate lobbyists take over the halls of congress and write our legislation. We'll be lucky is our own representative even reads a bill before he votes on it. Increasingly we are being manipulated by the media. It isn't enough that they poll us on everything to death. Now the media feeds us a story and we like good sheep believe it and then they take a poll, which somehow justifies what they are doing. Elections are no longer battle grounds of the best ideas but rather "horse races" where you don't want to be caught backing a losing horse. As you know my betting theory is "With football - bet favorites; with horse races - bet long shots". In my oppinion favorable odds on a race horse are your quickest way to the poor house. America lacks the will to do the things it has to do to get Industry back in this country. I believe that people who actually work for a living ought not to pay higher taxes than those who don't. For the longest time, Government has worked counter to the basic Puritan work ethic we were all raised with. Government prides itself on inefficiency, and counts its own existance the most important thing of all to be Preserved. Neither political party is guiltless when it comes to these things. Personally I liked Bob Dole's 1996 campaign slogan of "building a bridge to the past". We could use something like that. I think in general the American People are informed about a lot more issues than they used to be, including every manner of medical condition, which used to only be spoken of in hushed terms in a doctor's office. There should be a way the American People can unleash their intelligence to somehow revitalize the halls of government, and again make the people a relivent force in their own Government.