As a follow-up from last week about American tradition fading away, I would also like to mention that old-fashioned moral codes built on traditions found in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible likewise are disappearing from everyday common knowledge.

Younger people my age, some a generation or two before mine and maybe the one following mine, have turned away from the old-stock biblical kind of tradition that cemented families and communities into a cohesive and efficiently productive group. Many things contribute to fading traditions, but the overarching theme here is liberty through traditions.

Everyday traditions exist because the foundations were set in place in clay thousands of years ago. The first records in history concern law codes and financial matters. In fact, the two seem to echo throughout history as the most important elements in a society's recorded histories. Events were recorded secondhand and held less credence than the more obvious daily transactions of law and finance. These, of course, also concern marriage and how many heads of livestock one owes to his neighbor.

The cuneiform tablets etched by ancient Sumerian scribes, like the Ten Commandments, are examples of ancient tradition that carry on to the present day. However one thinks about the subject of tradition, there exist foundations upon which all is built. History, law, finance and theory do not exist in a vacuum. These creatures are highly complex and unlikely comprehendible in their most naked forms. So when one suggests that modern man is more advanced than ancient man, I say that he is not. At the base of things, no matter what period in history one prefers to study, the Ten Commandments are not disagreeable for any society to hold fast to.

Old law codes such as the Ten Commandments and Hammurabi's laws, similar as they are, are the basis and foundation that eventually leads to the constitution of the United States of America. Nevertheless, there were many important steps in between ancient law and modern law. But the knowledge to be gained from this is the idea that there are many millennia ahead of the present time. These law codes and the U.S. Constitution will be remembered through the darker times no matter increases the foils of liberty.

Let's briefly discuss the Tea Party protesters and tradition. A person should never call these people "Tea Baggers." Gamers of first-person shooters know this trick well as a humiliation move on a downed opponent. The epithet is completely asinine and purely disgusting. If one is a supporter of big government, one should surely not call their opponents "Tea Baggers" as that implies the forthcoming action being done to the opponent.

What is exactly wrong with protesting government spending? Is it right for lawmakers to bankrupt a nation by overspending in a time of lost revenue and business failure? To me, it sounds more logical to carry on the traditional approaches of basic law. Sure, we could blame corporations and greed for the economic problems but the government's attempt to control the situation definitely is not helping the country. A protestor against government spending is not doing any more than standing up for good old popular sovereignty and the rights and liberties Americans should desire.

I seem to recall the great debate about the cost of the War on Terrorism. Perhaps now would not be a good idea for democrats to argue about the cost of war compared to the bailout funding passed in the first month of this administration. Compare that to what the government now spends on drop-out-of-the-bucket projects and future plans. Regardless of where you might stand on political issues, gross government spending is overtly ridiculous. And future taxes on everyone are even more ridiculous.

The best things are sometimes the simplest things. I'm not arguing for a theocracy, but I am arguing for simple solutions to America's problems. Take the bailouts for instance; they only increased unnecessary government involvement in the private sector. That's hardly a simple strategy to fix the economy. The ramifications were greater than anyone can now comprehend and it set a dangerous precedent.

If a solution such as a bailout of a corporation happens once and is recognized as working (even if it has not), someone will try to do it again.

Concerning the Ten Commandments and the Constitution, the people are the deity, parents, and neighbors of the government. Government bears false witness against, covets possessions of, thieves from, and refuses to honor the people. Just listen to what the White House says about the Tea Party protesters.

Adam Conkey, an Edmond native living in Hays, is the son of a Kansas farmer and a graduate of Fort Hays State University.