by Scott Whippo

I was watching the birds in my back yard the other day. I like to watch birds, its wonderful how many different species we have in our area. robins seem to be the most common. But I also see Stellar Jays, finches, and sometimes at altitude I see hawks or eagles soaring above my house. I’ve always loved watching birds and their activities. When I was younger, I wished I were a bird and could fly whenever or wherever I choose. Sometimes I still wish for that experience. When I was in high school, I even took flying lessons at Payne Field.

While I was watching those birds in my backyard the other day, I had a sudden epiphany. Someone once told me, “Mother Nature is not kind, Mother Nature kills everything.” Although I understood what he told me, it didn’t really sink in until the other day when I was closely watching the robins in my backyard. They have territories that they protect. They have to be on constant alert to make sure no one encroaches on their location. It’s not a matter of territory for the sake of territory. It’s about food and water and shelter. These are the basics of life and the animal kingdom is struggling day to day to make sure they last until tomorrow.

Half of the epiphany came when I realized that I would hate to live in that world. The other half came when I realized that we humans are at the opposite end of the spectrum from the rest of the animal kingdom. Not in our civilized manners, we still fight for territory, but in our control of each other. We have built a civilization with social restrictions and laws that have fettered us in our pursuits of life, liberty and happiness. We have made the simplest task a major hurtle.

We have developed a tool called government. That tool helps us do things that we cannot do as individuals. It also ensures that our world is not as wild as the rest of the animal kingdom. The government consists of our friends and neighbors that are responsible to us for providing those things that we determine must be accomplished on a larger scale. Our neighbors and friends who hold these positions within the government are trying to make our lives better and safer.

The problem is that government is growing and there is very little sign of it stopping any time soon. At some point in time, things got out of control and some of our friends and neighbors decided that instead of asking us what we needed or wanted they were going to tell us, what we needed and how we were going to support these well-intended efforts. Marysville and Arlington seem to be responsive to our input, but as you climb the stairs to the state and national level the Juggernaut has grown with very little restraint. At higher levels of government, they seem to have stopped listening altogether.

If we don’t get involved, we can expect more of the same. Speak up and be heard by your friends in government. Government is not the enemy but sometimes its efforts are misguided. Think about going to the council meetings. Sit in on one of the Planning Commission meetings. Write letters to your local officials and state representatives about your stance on laws and over regulation.

Arlington is thinking about putting a camera at the intersection of 172nd and Smokey Point Boulevard. Let the government know what you think of cameras in public locations. There are many opportunities to give input to your friends, neighbors and relatives that occupy government positions but you must make an effort.

We will never be as free as the birds in my backyard. However, we can do things to reverse some of the damage we have inflicted on ourselves by too many laws and over regulation. We need freedoms and restrictions in our lives but it is not kind to be at either end of the spectrum. Remember; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are inversely proportionate to the amount of control others exert on you without your permission. To remain silent is to agree.

Comments may be addressed to sdwhippo@yahoo.com.