Let the kids be kids

When I first started working for COS, I had the privilege of mentoring under the great Bud “Gunny” Cornwell, retired — but, at heart, lifelong— United States Marine. He used to tell a story about why he fought for liberty in America through Convention of States that has stuck with me for years.

Growing up, he said, he and his buddies didn’t care about politics. They weren’t worried about the federal government or how it might impact their lives. Instead, they just went fishing — without a care in the world about how their government might handicap their liberties. Now, he wants his grandkids to enjoy that same experience. Therefore, he’s involved in politics so that one day, his posterity won’t have to be.

What a vision!

If we are not careful, in our line of work, politics — particularly federal politics — will become the be-all and end-all of our wrangling with the national government. However, the Founding Fathers designed our federalist system of governance so that the federal government would not be all that important in our lives. That’s the endgame — getting back to where we do not have to live under constant pressure and fear of what the president, Congress, Supreme Court, or anyone else in Washington, D.C., might say or do.

SEE ALSO: Help us save their America… one story at a time

I grew up reading about American history, sharks, and medieval battles, playing for hours in the backyard with my little sister, and, in my spare time, designing a theme park. It was a quintessential, idealistic childhood, one for which I will always be grateful.

In its purest form, that’s what liberty means — the simple ability to enjoy an innocent, good life. I, like Bud, want my kids to enjoy that kind of liberty. I want them to play pretend, to chase dragons around the yard, to explore and expand their boundless, God-given capacity for creativity and imagination. Even though I am only 21 years old, that is why I fight.

It’s time to fight to save their America. Kids shouldn’t have to worry about their share of the nation’s $35 trillion debt. They shouldn’t have to shoulder their parents’ burdens about federal overreach and corruption. Perhaps the best gift we can offer the next generation is freedom from the twenty-first century’s chronic political anxiety. We can do that through an Article V convention.

It’s time to shrink the federal government down to size. It’s time to make Washington, D.C., unimportant again.

Do you really want your children or grandchildren growing up in the kind of world we’ve lived in over the past month, what with the assassination attempt and relentless federal upheaval? If not, sign the Convention of States petition below to secure the hope of true liberty and childhood innocence for the next generation.