Lincoln Blog: Possible Uprising

     The American government and how people react to its decisions have not changed from the times of its creation. People tend to lose patience with the direction the government is taking, and lose faith in what it stands for. Lincoln in his speech discussed how overtime the lack of faith in a government can push people “who love tranquility” to “become tired of… a Government that offers no protection.” The start of this process is when laws are disregarded and people don’t have the energy to fight for justice anymore. Right now in America, the situation is at a point where people are losing hope in their government as well. There have been a few government shutdowns in the past few years due to issues with the budget. The end of the fiscal year came and went without a set budget. This resulted with a government shutdown, and certain programs were put in limbo. The current Americans today are on a similar path to that of the people in the angry mob that killed Elijah Lovejoy in 1838, due to impatience with government procedures.
     Lincoln stated a step by step in which normal people change into people that are “unrestrained.” Slowly as laws slide and crumble, people who would “spill their own blood in defense of their country” find themselves in dangerous situations. Their protection is forgotten, and their property is laid to waste. Once this occurs, these good citizens give up and feel no debt towards their country. These people lost sight of how special it is to be an American. They forgot about how much sacrifice has gone into its creation. They chose to mob, rather than to fight for change and liberty.
     The situation that current Americans are facing seems almost identical to what Lincoln was discussing. Many people have lost hope due to an increasing debt and an inactive government. The government is divided with the House controlled by Republicans and the Executive Branch controlled by Democrats. They have different goals, which lead to inconsistent budgets and turmoil. Before long, we will probably start to forget about tranquility and “pray for nothing so much, as its total annihilation.” Luckily, we are only in the early states of a revolt. Hopefully with time the government will be able to fix the issues, make every citizen feel important, and ensure protection.