In a recent post, Naman Crowe opined that “The Right To Say What's Wrong With America” is a freedom we should exercise.

I agree with his underlying premise that as responsible citizens, we should be vigilant to point out error in our government institutions and among those whom we elect to conduct those offices. And I agree that the ability to provide criticism is essential to our being able to continue the experiment our founding fathers birthed over 230 years ago called the United States of America.

Unfortunately, there is little else that I can agree with in what he says. Make no mistake he says it well. But what has he really said?

In essence he says that as citizens of the United States, we … you and I … have an unalienable right to complain, to criticize, to protest, to find fault and to nit pick. Unfortunately, this view (shared by many) is only half right. And just as a half-truth is a whole lie, those who would state we have the freedom to complain are all wrong. For you see, with the right to complain, comes a corresponding duty to do something to help rectify the problem. For it is only with putting action to thought that true freedom can be obtained or preserved.

Now in all fairness, Mr. Crowe alludes to that fact when he says that a car won’t continue to run unless you perform routine maintenance. And a house won’t stand for long if you fail to fix its leaky roof. But unfortunately he uses those examples to support his contention that voicing the complaint … is the fix. It is not. In both those examples, when the problem is found and voiced, someone has to grab a wrench and get greasy, or swing a hammer and get sweaty -- putting action to the voiced problem to fix it. Seeing the problem doesn’t fix it. Complaining about the problem doesn’t fix it. Acting on the problem is what leads to fixing it. Complaining without action is just a bunch of useless whining. The car will still be broke. The roof will still leak.

Imagine if Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hancock and the rest of our founding fathers had met on Signal Mountain so that they could simply go around the room and put voice to their thoughts of what was wrong with King George’s rule over the colonies. And that was as far as it went. If they never took action on those complaints, all they would have been was a group of grumpy old men, if you will. But, unlike our modern complainers exercising their right to complain … Washington, Adams, Franklin and crew, put action to their voiced grievances and in doing so fought for and won their independence.

If all you do is complain, then all you have are complaints. You see it is not the complaining that creates the freedom, it’s the action taken after the complaint is voiced that determines whether one is truly free.

So, I challenge you, the reader, don’t just complain about what is wrong, figure out how you can take constructive action to change what you perceive is wrong. More importantly, get off your philosophic (or journalistic) couch and go do something about it.

Because, you see, if all you do is complain, then all you have are complaints.

Wes Kliner
Ooltewah
wrklinerjr@mindspring.com

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As a columnist in the public arena, it has generally been my way in the past to not respond to counterpoints or arguments from others, preferring to leave it to the readers to judge for themselves, weigh the words and logic and make up their own minds.

However, the more I study the masses the more concerned I've become with the dumbing down of America, especially since 9/11. Of special concern for me are the young people caught in the flood of dumb-think coming from their elders and even recycled to them through their peers.

So, for the sake of the youngsters and others that may be confused and unable to separate intelligent thought from the mindless frothing that is too often substituted for substance, but blows away easily under the slightest puff of logic, allow me a quick response.

To ensure our liberties requires constant vigilance. Each of us must, in our own way, serve guard duty. Simple logic tells us that the complaint, the calling out of a warning, must always come first, or else the guard is guilty of sleeping on duty.

Simple logic does not allow for us to accept the notion that unless we can come up with a solution and can somehow take it to the appropriate top powers and convince them to implement it, that we have no business complaining.

And finally, the need and the right to complain, as I have argued it, is just another way of saying that as citizens the least we owe our country and ourselves, is to think and question and form intelligent opinions and be willing to share those opinions with our peers, our elders, our youngsters and even with the frothing masses, if possible.

Naman Crowe
namancrowe@yahoo.com