Liberty's Vision

Liberty's vision affirms the only proper role of government: to protect the Individual Rights of all citizens at the expense of none; to protect its citizenry from force, fraud, and breach of contract, thereby allowing all citizens to dispose of the products of their thoughts and labor, their property, as they see fit.

Liberty's vision defines the only proper way to associate with our fellow men: by voluntary trade and the prohibition of force. Free trade and free markets are both practical and morally necessary for human dignity, prosperity, and enjoyment of life on earth.

Liberty's vision rejects the premise that one person's alleged need constitutes an enforceable claim on another's life, and that such a claim can or should be fulfilled through government force or coercion. We reject slavery in all forms, including coercive wealth redistribution.

Liberty's vision rejects the premise of politicians and bureaucrats who assume the right to subject us to their schemes and controls, to force us into servitude to them and to their cronies, to take our hard-earned wages, to disrupt our economy and burden us with unconscionable liabilities, and to sacrifice our beloved soldiers and our resources in wars where our national interest is dubious, and where winning is prohibited.

This is Liberty's Vision. Is it America's? Is it yours?

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"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair." - George Washington.

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(If this was penned by someone other than me and you can prove it, I would love to give that person credit. I was sent this by a friend who had gotten it from me. He gives me credit for it and it sounds like something I may have written, but I'm not fully confident that I did. No matter, I publish it because it is important today as we sort out who we are as a nation.)

KEEPING FEAR ALIVE

The motivation behind the Left, the Democrats and all the political systems not based on liberty and individual rights is to KEEP FEAR ALIVE. This video demonstrates this. The people Van Jones appeals to are already politically free. Immigrants may or may not be, but they can be with some paper work.

The work to be done is not political. It is personal. It is stoking one's brain with knowledge so that one can see the choices available, screwing up the courage to act, then acting. That's how the real work is done.

Obama trots out the sob story, making sure that people are present to their fear. He, Michelle, Pelosi, Reid and thousands of others all like these stories - the more miserable the better. In the vacuum of non-creation - fear and hopelessness - they can step in and offer them any lie as hope. Now you see why a campaign of HOPE is attractive to some people, the hopeless people. The politician can offer no real solution as the real work is not political. The single root purpose of all of this activity is to KEEP FEAR ALIVE. Our politicians especially on the Left, thrive on their constituents' fear.

Geithner threatens us with the collapse of the financial system if he doesn't get to borrow more money. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson tell us that an American black person cannot make it unless he's given a break - affirmative action. On and on and on they KEEP FEAR LIVE.

The Right does its share of fear-mongering too and ends up making the Left's programs workable. Both are soul-eroding.

Until you and I realize this is no way to live and step in with the proper orientation, conversations and moral support, we are not able to act on the political freedom we already have. And soon enough, we will no longer be free. We will have forged our chains in the form of government laws and hardware to keep us under control.

Untitled from Breitbart on Vimeo.

When The Left and most politicians inspire us with livable ideals rather than the false ones requiring the government's gun to institute, there will be a new day for America. Until then, we live as slaves to our fear.

What are the two words one can say to himself when he finds himself granting this drivel a listening? Or gets scared? Or feels hopeless and powerless?

CREATE VALUE.

Another Way to Look at the Nation's Budget

This came to me in one of those email "send arounds" that we all get. I like it because it brings the huge figures and the problem down to manageable size.

2011 FEDERAL BUDGET

Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000

Income: $2,170,000,000,000

New debt: $1,650,000,000,000

Amount cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1% of the total budget)

Harry Reid is calling this an "historic amount." The President said it is an "historic deal." John Boehner simply said, "We have come to an agreement."

Let's put this in perspective. It helps to think about these numbers in terms that one can relate to.

Let's remove the nine zeroes from the ends of these numbers and pretend this is a monthly household budget for the fictitious Jones family.

Amount of money the Jones family spent this month: $3,820

Total income for the Jones family this month: $2,170

Amount of new debt added to the credit card this month: $1,650

Outstanding balance on the credit card: $14,271

(This represents our national debt.)

So last night, the Jones sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $38 from their monthly budget, an historic amount.

What is wrong with this picture? Is it no wonder that one cannot live lower in respect than a politician? Most families don't spend 43% more than they make. Why do we let our government do it?

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We know that changing the direction of how we handle our national finances is going to cause pain. No politician likes being blamed for causing pain unless he considers his constituents throwaways. There is no case I know when a dire situation is exorcised by short term pain that I am not immensely happy when it is over and on the right track. If a person outside myself is the cause, he is my hero.

But, it takes a man, a true leader, to do that. Who among us stands upright? Who among us commands the respect of all people and considers no one a throwaway?

It is going to take such a man because it is going to require a commitment to our friends and neighbors which we do not ordinarily practice. The government will not be able to take care of all the people - which most of us have known all along. The pain will be especially acute for those who think the government ought to take care of them.

Atlas Shrugged - The Movie

As one who read Atlas Shrugged 40 years ago and was inspired, when someone says they are going to make a movie, you are happy. Not until the movie is shown on the big screen do you realize that there is no place to hide any longer. Always before when I would talk about Rand's ideas, I could recommend one of her books. But even then, there are all kinds of misunderstandings that can occur. But when a movie is shown, the worldview of the movie is obvious. There is no more obscurity.

This whole evening since seeing the film this afternoon, I've been in a sacred space. Silent for hours now. I am present to the joy it was to sit in the value-space of Atlas Shrugged - to be among men who know that amazing, here-to-fore unthought feats are possible and they can be caused to happen. That space occurs for me as luminous - glowing with an underlying joy - the joy of knowing oneself as a creator.

The other thing that remains is my gratitude to have a film in existence that I can be proud of. It was really an accomplishment and I recommend anyone who has not seen the film go see it. If you love life, you shall have no regrets.

On the Value of Light

After seeing this video, I got that the Obama Administration is the descent of darkness over the United States. Obama is systematically squelching the light of millions of ideas being able to take root in a political environment of freedom/capitalism for the purpose of controlling people to his and his ideological "like-minders" narrow values. "Yes," they say, "It is for your own good." But rudimentary logic tells it isn't so.

We live in the Age of "Endarkenment."

Can You Hear This Yet?

Burn Quran AND Murder and Pillage

So, a preacher in Florida owned a Quran, decided he wanted to burn it, burned it and showed some pictures to prove he burned it. End of story.

In America you can burn a Bible, a flag or yes, a Quran if it is your property. People make what they will of that.

Some people in Afghanistan committed murder and destroyed property. Those are crimes and they ought to be dealt with appropriately. There is no cause and effect relationship between these two stories unless you are willing to say that the Afghans are not human and DO NOT possess free will.

When we hold men to possess free will and therefore responsible for their actions, we cause better men. When we don't, we cause worse men. Can it not be said that Lindsey Graham, Harry Reid, journalist Joe Klein, General Petraeus and NATO Ambassador Mark Sedwill are detriments to a society of men because they are causing worse men?

Rather than use their voices to point out what works and doesn't work and how we can all be better men by being responsible for our actions, they throw themselves on the pyre of failed leadership. Is it no wonder that we are having such a rough time in America right now? Has the entire world turned into the Jerry Springer show?

This gratuitous ass-kissing has a name: Preemptive capitulation. Here's an article on it. My thanks to Robert Bidinotto for his lead to this article.

Here's a response by Leonard Peikoff to the Geert Wilders trial revolving around the same issue - hate speech: Go HERE and click on Episode 160.