By Steve Rossiter ——Bio and Archives--November 28, 2024

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The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were arguably the greatest collection of minds in the history of politics. One of the main reasons is the fact that they were not politicians.

Because they were not politicians, common sense drove every decision that was made when developing the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. In this collection of great minds there were farmers, educators, clergy, academics, publishers, and scientists.

Politics and the slow leak of common sense started with the development of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Today common sense is nearly absent in government and politics seems to be driving the Washington Beltway Bandit Train.

"The more people who own little businesses of their own, the safer our country will be, and the better off its cities and towns; for the people who have a stake in their country and their community are its best citizens." ~ John Hancock

Little recognized, but one of the most important things said by our Founding Fathers was the above quote by John Hancock. For the first 150 years of America’s existence, Americans grew and prospered due to the fact that the vast majority of America’s economy was driven by small businesses. I must also point out that America’s economy and prosperity grew, but the government did not, which was a good thing.

These were the days when ordinary people went to serve in the government and then returned to their original real life. These were the days before politics became a professional career. These were the days when most people were business owners and had skin in the United States economy. These were the days when people were much closer together as a community and yet more........

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