The American Toolbox: The Tools of a Free People

America wasn't built with one tool. And it won't be preserved with one either.

Every good toolbox tells you something about its owner.

A hammer solves one problem. A wrench solves another. Some tools build. Some repair. Some protect. And some sit untouched for years until the exact moment they're needed.

America has a toolbox too.

It doesn't hang in a garage.

It was assembled over generations through revolution, debate, sacrifice, failure, correction and an enduring belief that ordinary people should have the right to govern themselves.

Inside are some of the most powerful tools ever entrusted to a free people.

THE CONSTITUTION

Consider it the frame of the toolbox.

The Constitution created a federal government—but just as importantly, it placed limits on that government.

Power was divided among three branches. Authority was divided between federal and state governments. Elections made leaders accountable to the people.

The Founders understood something remarkably practical:

Power needs restraints.

Not because every leader is corrupt.

Because eventually, one might be.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

If the Constitution builds the structure, the Bill of Rights helps protect the people living inside it.

Freedom of speech.

Freedom of religion.

Freedom of the press.

The right to assemble.

The right to petition government.

Protections against unreasonable searches.

Due process.

Trial by jury.

These aren't decorative pieces of American history.

They're working tools.

And like every tool, they're useful only when people know they have them.

FREE SPEECH

Free speech may be the most uncomfortable tool in the box.

It's easy to support speech you agree with.

The real test comes when somebody says something you find offensive, foolish or completely wrong.

A society that permits disagreement has a mechanism for correcting itself.

A society that suppresses disagreement eventually gives somebody the authority to decide which ideas may be spoken.

That's an extraordinarily dangerous tool to hand anyone.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT

Few tools in the American toolbox generate more debate.

The Second Amendment recognizes the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Americans can—and certainly do—disagree about firearms policy, regulation and where particular legal boundaries should be drawn.

But the amendment itself belongs in any serious discussion of America's constitutional structure.

You don't have to avoid difficult subjects simply because people argue about them.

Sometimes those are exactly the subjects worth understanding.

THE BALLOT BOX

Government derives legitimacy from the consent of the governed.

That makes voting more than another political ritual.

It's one of the mechanisms through which citizens hire, fire and restrain the people who exercise government power.

But elections require something from both winners and losers:

Trust.

Election laws should therefore strive for two things simultaneously:

Make lawful voting accessible.

And make the process transparent, secure and auditable enough that citizens can trust the result.

Those goals don't have to be enemies.

A FREE PRESS

The press was never supposed to make government comfortable.

Journalists have exposed corruption, challenged presidents, uncovered scandals and forced information into public view that powerful people would rather have kept hidden.

But freedom of the press doesn't require citizens to trust every journalist.

Quite the opposite.

A free society permits competing newspapers, broadcasters, independent journalists and ordinary citizens to challenge one another.

The answer to questionable information shouldn't be less scrutiny.

It should be more scrutiny.

FAITH

America's constitutional system doesn't establish Christianity—or any other religion—as the national faith.

That's important.

But religious faith has undeniably shaped American history and the lives of generations of Americans.

For millions of citizens, faith provides something government never can:

A source of morality, responsibility, forgiveness, purpose and accountability beyond politics.

The First Amendment protects both sides of that equation.

Government cannot establish a religion.

And government cannot prohibit its free exercise.

That's religious liberty.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

This one isn't written into the Constitution.

But the rest of the toolbox doesn't work very well without it.

Freedom requires something from us.

Raise your family.

Help your neighbor.

Keep your word.

Learn before you vote.

Take responsibility when you're wrong.

Stand up when something isn't right.

A country where everybody demands rights but nobody accepts responsibility eventually has a problem no government program can repair.

THE TOOL MOST OFTEN FORGOTTEN

There's one more.

You.

The Constitution is paper.

The flag is fabric.

The courthouse is stone.

Institutions survive because generations of ordinary citizens decide they're worth preserving.

America has never been perfect.

That's not an insult to America.

It's the reason the toolbox exists.

When something breaks, repair it.

When government exceeds its authority, challenge it.

When somebody lies, expose it.

When your side is wrong, say so.

When your neighbor disagrees with you, remember that he's still your neighbor.

And when freedom becomes inconvenient, remember why previous generations considered it worth defending.

KEEP THE TOOLS SHARP

That's the idea behind The American Toolbox.

It isn't really about tools.

It's about inheritance.

We inherited an extraordinary collection of rights, institutions, responsibilities and principles.

None came with a lifetime warranty.

Every generation receives the toolbox.

Every generation decides what condition it will be in when they hand it to the next one.

Know what's inside.

Learn how it works.

And don't let the tools rust.

THE BG DISPATCH

Faith. Freedom. America.

Liberty survives when people maintain it.

BoldGoodsUSA.com