By LEE PETERSON

According to ancient scriptures (the U.S. Constitution) this highly intelligent and modernized civilization we still call America was constructed by and for the people. Sure, you know that. You know that the people control this country. You know that you are "The People." So you control all those guys we send into Viet Nam every year. You control the $80 billion we spend every year on defense. You control the tax hikes that now happen every year in our government with a persistent regularity. You knew all along that you were controlling all the bills that go through congress every day.

After looking at the above or numerous other examples, I'm sure you've felt the need, at one time or another, to say to yourself, "Wait a minute, is it 'We the People' or 'We the Selected Few' that control our fair land?"

Well, of course, it is "We the People" who control the government; just look at one of the laws that "We" wanted: Section 2101. title 18 in the United States Code states that it is illegal for a person to "Willfully and knowingly

cross a state line to combine, conspire, and confederate with the intent to incite, organize, promote, encourage, participate in, and carry on a riot." This is the first law in United States history that does not allow a person to have a certain state of mind while crossing a state line.

Even though we may have a few such flaws in our system, we are still "better off" than any other country in the world. No one in the whole world is better off than the United States of America. So why should we change? How can we be better than best? How could the United States possibly improve? Why change?

Questions like these are best answered by one of our greatest statesmen, Thomas Jefferson. He stated, "Change is the most inevitable factor in the forming and upholding of a democracy."

There are a lot of organizations today that talk about and present ideas for reform, but they are usually ridiculed and criticized. Instead of scoffing or ignoring people or groups of people that represent change, it is time "We the People" listened.