LIBERTY
What I want to know is, when are you all gonna start standing up for the majority? And here’s who the majority is… I’m the majority!...I’m a law-abiding citizen who’s never shot anybody, never committed a serious crime, never committed a felony…”
How Two Venezuelans View American Socialists <<As with Hugo Chávez in his moment , this new generation of American politicians has the support of almost all mainstream media, some economic elite, and the academic world. … and generally they are treated with a soft and delicate indulgence. While other politicians have to fight for open their own spaces in the media and handle rude and non-friendly interviewers, these socialism-friendly politicians have had everything, as we say in Venezuela “served on a silver platter.”.>> Hillsdale College commemorated the September 17, 1787 signing of the Constitution, and celebrated its underlying principles of liberty with guest speaker Victor Davis Hanson. Listen at your leisure by clicking below:
"Reflections on the GOP Presidential Debates and Prospects for the 2016 Election" — A lecture by Victor Davis Hanson The Soviet Story
The Soviet Union helped Nazi Germany instigate the Holocaust. The Soviet Story shows recently uncovered archive documents revealing this. Interviews with former Soviet Military intelligence officers unveil shocking details.
"The Soviet Story" is a story of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale. Assisted by the West, this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Its crimes were made taboo, and the complete story of Europe's most murderous regime has never been told. Until now... 2nd Amendment Primer - why arms and self-def*nse are your right, not a problem
Freedom | Tim Nerenz
<<As long as the exercise of your freedom does not limit mine, it is not my place to tell you how to live your life. And equally important, it is not your obligation to pay for the choices that I make as I go about living my own life. When we live free of government control, there is no need to choose between a conservative or liberal vision of happiness at the polls; we each get to live our own lives, to be happy.
An individual is a single indivisible being; there is no “majority” to rule in a self-sovereign. There is no “public good” in a nation of self-sovereigns, only public safety; a free people need just enough government to keep us safe and protect our rights, not a pinch more. Freedom is a transactional state. In every choice and every act, you are either free to choose or you are not. America was founded on the idea that citizens, not government, should make choices and own consequences. The role of government in our lives was strictly limited to those few enumerated powers that make it as irrelevant and impotent as possible.>> from Tim Nerenz's Option 3 entry dated June 11, 2012 <<We are a nation of self-sovereign individuals, and as the term implies, our government has no authority over our private affairs and no claim over our property. That’s what makes this country unique…or did. ... We hear about the public good, the public interest, and the public trust so often we start to hallucinate and see the mirage ourselves; we begin to think there might actually be such things. We have been taught that we are dependent on government for our security and prosperity; many have come to believe that we cannot possibly exist independent from it. With each generation we drift farther and farther away from the nation’s first principle - liberty. We have lost sight of what it means to be free and we have forgotten what it is that we are to be liberated from – namely, government. ...throw off your dependence and come and join us in the liberty movement. Take back your independence and live as a self-sovereign in a nation where government is limited and liberty is not. Play Manilow because you want to, not because you have to; wave your sparklers because it pleases you, not because it pleases some bureaucrat in a city far away. Liberty is the absence of government in choice; it is independence from government. Live free or die the long and withering death of dependence. We were not put on this earth to pull another man’s plow; each of us is a unique and valuable human being whose self-sovereignty was endowed to us at birth by our Creator. Do not dishonor His gift - be independent and be happy. Happy Independence Day.>> from Dependence Day 7/2/12 Freedom and Benevolence Go Together | John Stossel
"...I'm not a theologian, but I do know that when people are ordered by the
government to be charitable, it's not virtuous; it's compelled. Why
would anyone get into heaven because he pays taxes under threat of
imprisonment? Moral action is freely chosen action...America was never about every man for himself. A free society is about voluntary communities cooperating through the division of labor. Libertarianism is far from 'every man for himself.'"
All about the U.S. Constitution
Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities | Glenn Beck
"...The media, politicians and large institutions both academic and political have been lying to us, and we must demand the truth be told...With that demand, comes the responsibility that we tell the truth first, in ourselves...Now, the time has come to take a stand by exhibiting the traits – honor, courage and vigilance...
What is honor? It is being honest in all of our dealings. It is showing loyalty and fairness, and being a beacon of integrity in all our beliefs and actions. It is showing respect for others. Courage is the ability to face danger, criticism or scorn – not without fear, but while overcoming fear to deal with that which comes our way. Vigilance is being watchful for all forms of treachery and tyranny, lies and deceit." My personal favorite of the new rights: "6. Because I have the God given right to liberty, I have the personal responsibility to have the courage to defend others to be secure in their persons, lives and property. 9. Because I have the right to pursue my dreams and keep the fruits of my labor, I have the responsibility to feed, protect and shelter my family, the less fortunate, the fatherless, the old and infirm. The best way to help the nation is to for my family and myself to be self-sufficient. 10. Because I have a right to the truth, I will not bear false witness nor will not stand idly by as others do." Good points for discussion and thought. Freedom means allowing others to pursue paths we don't approve of or find appealing. A Freedom Recipe | William Murchison, The Patriot Post
"....The truth in question: free people work harder than...less free people."
"...We didn't talk much about freedom during the debt-ceiling agonies. We trafficked mostly in mechanics -- tax rates, spending levels, balanced budget amendments and the like." "...If freedom, as history demonstrates consistently, furthers creativity, investment, risk-taking and, finally, job-creation, any government program downplaying freedom requires a quick riposte: No thanks, we can do better. How? Many things come to mind, among them: tax reform." Favorite Founders
In a series of blog posts, Heritage asks "conservative and libertarian leaders on American Independence and the Founding...What Founder is either your favorite or one who you think deserves more credit for his or her contributions to America?" Read thoughts about John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Sam Adams
Liberty and Its Antithesis
"...If socialism and communism should succeed in these [Western] countries, it will be the socialism of the planning scheme and not the socialism of the nationalization scheme...
In the libertarian system every individual is a moral person, that is, he is free to choose and to act and is responsible for his conduct. In the authoritarian system the supreme chief alone is a free agent while all the others are bondsmen subject to his discretion... Only in such a free society has the individual the power to choose between morally commendable and morally reprehensible conduct...[Whereas in an authoritarian] society...all of the people should be prevented from planning their own conduct and from arranging their lives according to their own moral convictions... the great majority of those supporting socialist policies vaguely assumed that the restriction of individual freedom by a socialist regime will apply "only" to economic affairs...As the socialist state has sole control of the means, it has the power to determine which ends are to be served and which ends men are to strive for. It is not an accident that Marxian socialism in Russia and nationalist socialism in Germany resulted in the complete abolition of all civil liberties and the establishment of the most rigid despotism... ...the Welfare State is merely a method for transforming the market economy step by step into socialism...Every citizen, whatever his nominal position in the economic system may be, is bound to toil in strict compliance with the orders of the planning board, and his income, the amount he is permitted to spend for his consumption, is exclusively determined by these orders... ...the "planning scheme" is just as destructive of freedom as the "nationalization scheme" and both lead on to the authoritarian state." Walter E. Williams | Conflict or Cooperation
The metaphor master is at it again with another way of looking at government control [govt control = less liberty and happiness]. Williams asks us to notice how some people love wearing jeans and others who love wearing suits. Nonetheless, they get along and don't hate each other, because they can each do what they want. Government officials, however, can quickly and easily make jean lovers hate suit lovers and vice versa by imposing any number of executive and/or legislative mandates, taxes, tax subsidies, regulations, etc. In fact, they promote hate and division all the time...Read on!
The Wilding of Sarah Palin (Believe me; this is about liberty.)
Robin of Berkeley writes a powerful piece about why she became a liberal, and then why she broke with them. Here is just a taste of what you will read, "...I finally beheld what my eyes had refused to see: that leftists are Mr. and Ms. Misogyny. Neither the males nor the females care a whit about women...Women are continually sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. If under radical Islam women are enshrouded and stoned and beheaded, so be it...My other epiphanies: those ponytailed guys were marching for abortion rights not because they cherished women's reproductive freedom, but to keep women available for free and easy sex..." HT WebWit and Vicki McKenna
Walter E. Williams | Why a Bill of Rights?
"...the Ninth Amendment...reads: 'The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others [other rights] retained by the people.' In essence, the Ninth Amendment says it's impossible to list all of our God-given or natural rights. Just because a right is not listed doesn't mean it can be infringed upon or disparaged by the U.S. Congress.
The Tenth Amendment is a reinforcement of the Ninth saying, 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.' That means if a power is not delegated to Congress, it belongs to the states [or] the people..." If you don't trust government in the oppositions' hands, what makes it right in yours? K.I.S.S. The FFs got it. Ayn Rand | The Virtue of Selfishness
"Rand writes, "[A]ltruism permits no concept of a self-respecting, self-supporting man—a man who supports his own life by his own effort and neither sacrifices himself nor others … it permits no concept of benevolent co-existence among men … it permits no concept of justice" (VOS, ix)"
"...the truly selfish person is a self-respecting, self-supporting human being who neither sacrifices others to himself nor sacrifices himself to others." Summary. Memoirs of a US Soldier held by the Nazis
World War II diary. Read how American soldiers survive (and die) in concentration camps.
Kurt Vonnegut| "Harrison Bergeron"
It's time again for this classic short story clarifying the stupidity and danger of blindly following a mantra of social equality. If you haven't read it, take time to read the entire text here. More great classic reads are on our Books - Classic page. Richard Ebeling | Free Markets, the Rule of Law and Classical Liberalism
The Libertarian who managed to get photocopies of almost every page of Ludwig Von Mises papers hidden in Soviet storage back to the United States (and is a Hillsdale College professor) writes on subjects dear to our hearts and futures. The article seems dense at first glance, but start reading it line by line and you'll find yourself nodding in agreement. Read this article. Frederic Bastiat | The Law
"Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before — and immediately following — the Revolution of February 1848. This was the period when France was rapidly turning to complete socialism. As a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bastiat was studying and explaining each socialist fallacy as it appeared. And he explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. But most of his countrymen chose to ignore his logic. Rose Wilder Lane | Give Me Liberty
Tired of socialism already? In 1936 this former communist wrote about individualism as the only way to uphold freedom. She advocated opposing any type of enslavement and oppression. Words we need to hear and understand again today. From her wordly travels as an ardent communist, she grows to appreciate that "Everywhere, in shops, streets, factories, elevators, on highways and on farms, Americans are the most friendly and courteous people. There is more laughter and more song in America than anywhere else. Such are a few of the human values that grew from individualism while individualism was creating this nation." Click here to read the entire text. Hint: Click on the authors' name links for more information about them. Jeffrey Lord | "Democrats: The Missing History"
“The DNC website section labeled "Party History," linked here, is in fact scrubbed clean of the not-so-little dirty secret that fueled Democrats' political successes for over a century and a half and made American life a hell on earth for black Americans…” Read on about what we are proud of and what’s been scrubbed from the DNC website. or read it here |
Quotes
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the gov. to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the gov." --Patrick Henry
"The foundation on which all [constitutions] are built is the natural equality of man, the denial of every preeminence but that annexed to legal office, and particularly the denial of a preeminence by birth." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to George Washington, 1784 "The dons, the bashaws, the grandees, the patricians, the sachems, the nabobs, [the elitists] call them by what names you please, sigh and groan and fret, and sometimes stamp and foam and curse, but all in vain. The decree is gone forth, and it cannot be recalled, that a more equal liberty than has prevailed in other parts of the earth must be established in America." --John Adams, letter to Patrick Henry, 1776 HTPatriotPost |
