A Few Words

Thoughts on American Government

by

Varo Borja

The framers of the constitution certainly had their work cut out for them. I’m sure that with all their divisions, self-interested vanity, and the particular regional wants and needs that they brought to the table, there was much to be overcome to agree on a document that would work for the blossoming nation. I’m re-reading “The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin”, and I find his life to be the most fascinating of the founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin led a life devoted to the conquest of the almighty dollar, but he did much to improve himself and his faculties, especially in regards to practical wisdom. Mr. Franklin surely had much to do with the compromises that were reached during the constitutional deliberations, and I’m sure that even though he feared what might befall this nation from the British as well as what might happen because of the immorality of slavery, he valiantly upheld a basic American, if not universal virtue: the art of compromise. Compromise certainly didn’t make Mr. Franklin weak. Nor did it make the founding fathers weaker to put aside their self-interest and aggrandizement in favor of a workable solution. The willow tree is strong because it can bend with the breeze instead of being stiff as iron and breaking with the first gale of summer. This thought brings to mind the many avenues for compromise and diplomacy that we as a nation are faced with today. Should we talk to the Iranians, the Russians, the Venezuelans, and the Cubans, or should we just steel our faces and present an iron fist instead? These seem to be the questions of paramount importance to the American people in making their decisions for a future president. Perhaps we should take a lesson from Mr. Franklin and all men of wisdom and greatness, from Socrates forward, and bend with the breeze if we are to survive the storm.