We are not the rest of the world

An argument always comes up and inevitably, someone will bring up how some others countries address or are affected by the issue at hand.

That's fine for general discussion.  But we have to consider that the history of the U.S. is not that of a follower.  it is not necessarily that of a "leader" as well, at least not by intention, or at least, it hasn't always been.

The U.S. does it's own thing, goes it's own way, forges it's own path.  Others have followed and some have been told or suggested to follow.  What the U.S. Doesn't do is what everyone else is doing.

There is a good reason for that.  Some make the argument of following what other countries do or have done when faced with a similar situation, whatever that may be.  They will say that it is wise to learn from others mistakes and successes.  In one person to the next situations, that is often good advice to a point.

The other thing to consider in that is that there are key differences, for people and nations, that may and will arise that can make a solution for one not the solution for the next.  In the long run, each must find their own way.

Take the gun regulation discussion currently going on.  The second amendment of the Bill of Rights specifically says that every person has the right to keep and bear arms and that this right shall not be infringed upon.

Many people think the addition of the word "infringed" means that regulations is not to be imposed on issues of arms.  Others suggest that it only means the amendment cannot be removed but is otherwise up for regulation.

Inevitably, the discussion turns to what other countries have done, like Britain or France in Europe, with the issue of citizens keeping and bearing arms.  We can certainly observe what other countries have done, but that doesn't mean that what they have done applies to our country.

We have a very different culture built on the premise of liberty.  Liberty means that no person, group or government can tell someone how to live, what to do.  Our Constitution shows exactly how hands off our government is supposed to be in the affairs of people's lives in the way it was written.

As a matter of fact, it clearly states that the federal government is to have no authority outside of that which has been specifically enumerated within the Constitution.  Any other authority not so described or defined belongs to the state and to the people.

That means that the government is intentionally to have a "hands off" approach regarding anything that the Constitution and therefore the people have allowed them.  Liberty, leave people alone unless it has specifically to do with what you have been told is your job to do.

Our elected representatives keep trying to sneakily buy our liberty from us in the name of "security". They try to sell sneaky interpretations of the Constitution to trick us into thinking they somehow have the authority to infringe on our liberty based on what is already in the Constitution.

But we are not Europe.  We are not Canada or Russia or China. Their cultures are vastly different from ours and are not based on individual liberties.  Their people have not had the experience of a non-invasive government.  They are used to their governments historically being their overlords.  They accept such invasive-ness much more readily.  They are used to it.   We are not.