September 13, 2010

Hundreds, even thousands of writers, politicians, and ordinary people (through the magic of the internet) speak and write millions of words each year about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and many other classic or historical documents. Many wax poetic (or nonsensical) about the "values" and "freedoms" of America and how fortunate the people are to have a government that honors these things and cares about the people.

We are told we are "free" because we can "elect" representatives, who work hard making the laws that keep us all safe and "free; that we are a "special people" with a mission to bring those values and that freedom to the entire world - even if it is at gunpoint.

They each have their own interpretation of these things and their application to the situation America is in today. And some would be delighted to impose his or her interpretation on everyone else. Throughout history, there have been many with a plan to rule the world, promising peace and plenty, but they ultimately only deliver death, slavery and poverty.

There are plenty of people predicting doom and eventual success by the tyrants of the world, but regardless of all the death and destruction that has been rained on the earth in the attempt, and all of the evil it has spawned in the lives of nearly everyone on earth, I'm glad to say that it does not seem possible for anyone, or any group of people to realize this evil dream of world dominion in the long run.

There are too many different groups competing for the role of tyrant (anyone who wants to control the lives of others), inevitably fighting for the prize, and the self appointed masters can only carry out their plans for subjugation and control if they can convince enough people to allow themselves to be controlled, robbed and ultimately murdered. That's right! They can only succeed if most of their victims cooperate!

It's getting to be a very hard sell.

More and more people are seeing the gun and poison behind the rhetoric. They are starting to notice that this "freedom" they are promised, more and more matches the definition of slavery. It's becoming clear that those politicians and bureaucrats with the most sincere plans for "helping people" and doing good are the most dangerous - and produce the most evil - because they most easily convince the victims of their "good intentions." The worst tyrants ultimately are those who seem to be benevolent and righteously seeking the "common good." The velvet gloves come off, however, when people decide they do not need anyone to seek that "good" for them and would rather be left alone.

Socialism - and all the other command and control isms - only work as long as the tyrants promise that "someone else" is responsible for their lives, or that "the rich" will be robbed and controlled to benefit the "poor" and the "downtrodden." The tyrants use emotional false guilt of good people to convince them to go along with it. Those who look closely enough, however, discover that all of the people who actually produce anything, live frugally, save their money and take responsibility for themselves to any extent wind up robbed, beaten and put out of business, while those who do the controlling and robbing always seem to have both special privileges and most of the wealth.

As I said... it's getting to be a hard sell - at least to those who are honest about any of it.

The US Constitution just might have been a good thing if it had contained one absolute and iron clad provision: anyone who did not consent to have their their goods and productivity confiscated, their business and personal lives micro-managed, or their children indoctrinated as slaves - then eventually sent off to kill and be killed - would be completely free to ignore those demands and be left alone to provide for themselves, as long as they did not steal or commit other aggression, of course.

Who in their right mind would volunteer themselves and their children to be robbed, controlled and murdered? Why have so many seemingly done so down through the ages?

It is so often said that this government exists by the consent of the governed, that the "majority" somehow has the right and power to give this consent for everyone! It is assumed that this majority can dictate life and death or anything else to the minority.

But the truth is that we each own our life and body as individuals. It is our great strength as humans that we can think rationally for ourselves, work together in voluntary cooperation and defend ourselves at need. The only goal of the tyrant is his own thirst for power and plunder. They have absolutely nothing of value to offer honest and peaceful people.

More and more of us insist on being left alone, and do not consent to be ruled by others for any reason.

How about you?

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Some reading material

Consent of the Governed? | The Beacon

Democracy: The God That Failed