Time up?

  I find myself struck by the ambivalence of time. Fifty years ago I graduated high school, thirty years ago my father passed away, twenty eight years ago I retired from the Navy. And time just keeps going on, uninterrupted, unchanged, relentless. It's almost as though time doesn't matter at all. Ah, but time is an infinite thing, just finite to us human beings. One has to wonder if animals have any sense of time. Are they aware? If so their measure of time, their reality of that intangible, infinite thing, must surely be different than our own. We say a dog lives seven years for every one of ours, it's about the same for cats. Is that seven years quicker for them or is it seven years? I suppose that would all depend wouldn't it? I mean it would depend upon how we/they perceive reality. I recently went away for three days, Morris was left at home, I did have my granddaughter check in to feed him. Was it three days to him or more like three weeks? Hmm, that's the ambivalence of time. 

 Man has always recorded time. Whether it was marks on the wall of a cave or the counting of the moons, time was marked. Sundials were invented to measure the length of daylight, how long was the wait until dawn? That, I expect was the question at that time. Much has been written about time, the passage of time, in due time, it's past time, if I could put time in a bottle. Time is the ultimate teacher and time is the ultimate judge. It's my time, your time, or maybe not. Time will arrive and depart regardless, until the end of time. What is there after that? Well, only time will tell right? But if time ends, their will be no one to tell at all. Still it's my thinking that if time where to end that would just be the beginning of time once again. That's what gives hope to mankind isn't it?

 All things end in time. That's an old adage and one that is certainly true. What's old is new again. A renewal of time. A study of history will show that. The rise and fall of empires. That's how man tends to view history. It's the big picture. It's the survival of man that engages us the most. We are making progress aren't we? We do think of the past as, well, outdated, old fashioned, uninspired and sometimes downright cruel. But things will be better in the future as man makes progress. Advances in all fields of science and medicine, advances in the care of our mental health, advances in how we conduct society itself will all ensure that progress. We are aware that all things will end, all the bad things anyway and that is the hope of mankind. All things in time. 

 In thinking about all of this I have read where a Democracy generally lasts somewhere between two hundred and two hundred and fifty years. The United States is currently two hundred and forty five years old. Time is catching up to the old girl. Fortunate indeed that the United States has a Republic instead of a Democracy. Of course we employ democratic principles in this Republic and it is those democratic principles that cause erosion. just as ferrous materials cause rust. Still both are necessary when building a strong structure. I believe the time has come for this Republic. There is a mechanism built into the system to renew the Republic. It is called a Convention of the States. The power of our Republic lies with the people! It is not centralized in our elected officials, they are the representatives of the people. The people can convene this convention solely by the will of the people against any objections by any elected officials! 

 Now this convention will not be to reinvent the Republic but rather to reinforce it. Just as the writers of our Declaration and Constitution feared, corruption, greed, the struggle for power, and self interest has permeated the fabric of government. That is the very reason Article Five was written! That article empowers the people to propose amendments to the constitution those in the seat of power must adhere to! Term limits may be imposed, indeed the very terms of their (employment) can be written, a new contract drawn up. The original intent of holding office was Public Service! It was not a means to enrich oneself, in fact, no compensation was given at all. The honor and privilege of having your fellow citizens place you in that position of trust was enough! I'd say that trust has been betrayed and perverted into a means for personal enrichment, even at the expense of those that elected them in the first place! Where this a straight Democracy you could expect a revolution or a coup to take place. The objective of either of those is to establish a new government. We have a Republic with the means to strengthen that Republic, not to replace it. That is what is meant when we say preserving freedom. The Republic provides us with that Freedom! We must preserve the Republic. 

 I began speaking about the ambivalence of time, how time is measured as it relates to our perception of reality. At sixty eight I'm beginning to feel time as it passes. I can look back on time and see the results. Statistics suggest I will live to be 76.1 years old. That time is less than a decade away. No need to concern myself with that however, only time will tell. My time will come, on time. Two hundred and forty five years seems like a long time doesn't it? I've been around for a little better than 27% of that time. That's a different perspective isn't it? Since 1776 there have been nine generations, nine. That's a small number. Still, that is how long the average Democracy will survive, just nine generations. It is now the fourth quarter and time is running out. Let's send this Republic into overtime! A convention of the states is what is needed, it is time!