[Tim has another book in the works - here is an excerpt from the draft]
...We have known the answer to the problems that face our nation for over 200 years; the maintenance manual for happiness and prosperity is so thin I carry one in my jacket pocket most of the time – it is the Constitution.
Libertarians believe that the enumerated powers delegated to government in Article I, Section 8 represent the proper role of government. We believe the Bill of Rights properly delineates the State from the People and sets the correct boundaries for the limits of State power against its citizens. Liberty is good foreign policy; Liberty is good domestic policy; Liberty is good economic policy.
The less your government takes from you, the more of yourself you own. Self-ownership is the path to economic recovery, a path that requires the obstacle of government to be removed, not improved.
And self-ownership is also the path to pride and self-respect. No one wants to grow up to be a ward of the state. No one aspires to be dependent upon someone else for sustenance. Dependency must be learned; the spirit must be broken before subservience can be achieved. Is that really our dream for 21st century America – a nation of broken spirits dependent on government for sustenance? I think not. I pray not.
Perhaps you do not believe in this principle of self-ownership; perhaps you are skeptical of an idea that runs counter to the preaching of the socialist progressives over the past century. Perhaps this is not what you have been taught in your government-union school. What, then, is your alternative?
If you do not fully own yourself, than who owns you? Society? And who is that but your neighbors? Why do they own you? In the economy of two, the rest of society is me. What is the basis of my claim on you, and why is mine superior to your own? Which will be the more peaceful coexistence between you and me – voluntary exchange, or surrender by force?
The operational theory of the progressive welfare state is that my need represents a superior claim against your property. The socialists’ purpose for government is to re-allocate wealth that a handful of people determine to be surplus. They claim authority over everyone's property to achieve their notion of justice – a notion that forced upon both the self-owner and the recipient of the taken property. Your obligation as a citizen is to surrender yourself to them for the good of society – good as they define it.
This is also the operational theory of piracy.
The underlying moral premise of the socialist – my need trumps your right of self-possession - is no different than that of the pirate, the looter, the rapist, the con-man, the gold-digger, the extortionist, or the thief. The socialist wraps the taking in high-minded words of compassion; so does the pimp. The socialist excuses his brutality on the basis of superior moral intentions; so does every fallen evangelist.
Who owns you? That is the first question to be answered. It is the only tough one; the rest are easy.
Who is selfish - the person who asserts his right to self-ownership or the person who demands the taking of that which he has not earned?
Who is compassionate – the person who gives his own money quietly to the charity of his choosing, or the person who loudly redistributes the money of others?
Who is just – the person who respects the rights of others equally or the person who forces his beliefs onto others and takes it upon himself to allocate rights and privileges?
Who is moral – the person who takes instruction from God, or the person who imposes his personal beliefs on others through the force of legislation?
Personal liberty and economic liberty are two sides of the same coin. It is impossible to keep heads when you throw tails away. All the money in the world is useless if you are not free to spend it as you see fit; and freedom to choose how to spend is useless if your earnings have been confiscated...
Libertarians believe that the enumerated powers delegated to government in Article I, Section 8 represent the proper role of government. We believe the Bill of Rights properly delineates the State from the People and sets the correct boundaries for the limits of State power against its citizens. Liberty is good foreign policy; Liberty is good domestic policy; Liberty is good economic policy.
The less your government takes from you, the more of yourself you own. Self-ownership is the path to economic recovery, a path that requires the obstacle of government to be removed, not improved.
And self-ownership is also the path to pride and self-respect. No one wants to grow up to be a ward of the state. No one aspires to be dependent upon someone else for sustenance. Dependency must be learned; the spirit must be broken before subservience can be achieved. Is that really our dream for 21st century America – a nation of broken spirits dependent on government for sustenance? I think not. I pray not.
Perhaps you do not believe in this principle of self-ownership; perhaps you are skeptical of an idea that runs counter to the preaching of the socialist progressives over the past century. Perhaps this is not what you have been taught in your government-union school. What, then, is your alternative?
If you do not fully own yourself, than who owns you? Society? And who is that but your neighbors? Why do they own you? In the economy of two, the rest of society is me. What is the basis of my claim on you, and why is mine superior to your own? Which will be the more peaceful coexistence between you and me – voluntary exchange, or surrender by force?
The operational theory of the progressive welfare state is that my need represents a superior claim against your property. The socialists’ purpose for government is to re-allocate wealth that a handful of people determine to be surplus. They claim authority over everyone's property to achieve their notion of justice – a notion that forced upon both the self-owner and the recipient of the taken property. Your obligation as a citizen is to surrender yourself to them for the good of society – good as they define it.
This is also the operational theory of piracy.
The underlying moral premise of the socialist – my need trumps your right of self-possession - is no different than that of the pirate, the looter, the rapist, the con-man, the gold-digger, the extortionist, or the thief. The socialist wraps the taking in high-minded words of compassion; so does the pimp. The socialist excuses his brutality on the basis of superior moral intentions; so does every fallen evangelist.
Who owns you? That is the first question to be answered. It is the only tough one; the rest are easy.
Who is selfish - the person who asserts his right to self-ownership or the person who demands the taking of that which he has not earned?
Who is compassionate – the person who gives his own money quietly to the charity of his choosing, or the person who loudly redistributes the money of others?
Who is just – the person who respects the rights of others equally or the person who forces his beliefs onto others and takes it upon himself to allocate rights and privileges?
Who is moral – the person who takes instruction from God, or the person who imposes his personal beliefs on others through the force of legislation?
Personal liberty and economic liberty are two sides of the same coin. It is impossible to keep heads when you throw tails away. All the money in the world is useless if you are not free to spend it as you see fit; and freedom to choose how to spend is useless if your earnings have been confiscated...
