As part of my prepared articles, we all could stand to benefit from some of the lessons my daughter is learning in her American Civics and History 2nd Grade class. I will not be overstepping any copyright issues but I will focus on the core four forms of government that the USA was founded upon.

The first form of government and the most important form of government is called Self-Government. You may initially wonder what that is but it goes by many names in many different cultures. Here is what it is and is not.

Self-Government is also known as self-control or taking responsibility for your own choices and actions. Self-Government is about you holding yourself accountable for your own actions using a set of 10 basic rules to go by. Those rules are the Ten Commandments. I know some out there do not want anything to do with Christianity but the Ten Commandments are a key foundation of the rule of law in the USA and many other lands. If they are followed, many, many problems in society are significantly reduced. If they are not followed, the society becomes much more dangerous.

How so? For the majority of the history of the USA, the government gave high priority to the rights of the parents to raise their children to be responsible citizens. That has a basis in the 5th Commandment or “Honor your father and your mother.” The 6th Commandment is declaring “You shall not murder.” The laws support this as does the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The 8th is about not stealing which is also supported by the law. The 9th is about not being a liar and saying false things about those in your life. In the legal sense, this is called defamation of character. The 7th is about staying faithful to your spouse and not acting like an animal. The 10th is about not being jealous. The 3rd was honored for a long time as well and still is to a degree by having standards on what can be said in media.

History in the USA is also very strong in supporting the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Commandments as the Founding Fathers were openly Christian and defended the rights of those to practice their Christian faith. The main concern was that the USA government would never do what England did and create an equivalent of the Anglican Church which was controlled by the King of England. It had nothing to do with Church staying out of government; it has everything to do with the government not dictating a single thing to the churches.

There are other names for Self-Government. The one that is known the best is being an adult. A child is learning about the world and sees things in black and white. A teenager is learning how to become an adult and is often irresponsible. An adult exercises wisdom gained through experience; takes responsibility for their own fiscal, emotional, and spiritual decisions; self-control in all things, and doing what needs to be done even if that means to sacrifice versus giving into their selfish wants like a child does.

Why is Self-Government the core foundation of all government? No agency at any civil government level whether it is national or state can control what goes on between your ears. They can try but no one can control what you think.

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