The American Principle 101

We now see that the top down politics that has come to a head in the Obama Administration is against human nature. Only the individual man knows what it takes to keep him looking forward to and wanting to take on life. (The moral is that which causes that desire in the individual human being. He must pursue happiness or his lust for life will die.) All orders and dictates from a top-down government chafe against that individual right. When it interferes too much, it must be changed as the Declaration of Independence makes clear.

The people of Vernon NJ are a beacon for what is possible and will need to take place all over this country. As it is learned in the incubators of liberty such as Vernon, so it shall grow into the full-fledged power of the possibility that only the United States has ever presented to mankind.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." -- Declaration of Independence, 1776

The Government Can

Types of Government - Image

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Perfecting the self.
"We" by voluntary association.
Life by agreement and contract.

All property privately owned.
Unlimited resources; Wealth created.
Free trade for mutual benefit.

The conquest of nature.

Emancipation of human energy.

Capitalism
Limited principled Government

Limited by a Constitution.

Constitution protects individual rights, freeing men from men.
Separation of church and state; separation of economy and state.

Morally justified by the Right to Live for One's Self - Life as an End in Itself.

Unstable Mix -- Welfare State

Morally justified by the Greater Good - Life as a Means to Another's Ends.

Theocracy
Man of God

Socialism
Dictator
Oligarchy

Monarchy
King

Unlimited arbitrary Government.

Searching for Saviors.
All forms of "us vs. them."

All property owned or regulated by the State.

Resources limited - Perpetual war.
Society devolves to battling ethnic and racial groups.

The conquest of men; Live by permission - slavery.

The control of human energy.

Also see here.

Basic Types of Political Systems

I use the words socialism and fascism in describing particular political systems and actions. People react to these words. Frankly, since for me they have specific meanings, I don't get upset by the words.

Political systems break down into two primary categories. One places the individual as primary and the government's purpose is to protect the individual's inalienable rights. The other places the society as primary and subjugates the individual to the needs/purposes of the society as a whole. Who determines what those needs or purposes are? Those in power. I hope you didn't think that your one vote among millions and millions determined that.

Since man is a real being who must produce the requirements of his life in order to keep his life in existence, property is a primary concern. Who controls the property is the primary way to understand the system that one is in.

The first system is called capitalism. In capitalism, all property is privately owned. Ownership means the right to use and dispose of one's property.

The second system is called statism. Here the property is controlled by the state, hence the state has the right to the use and disposal of the property. This takes several forms:

If the property is owned by the state, the system is communism. If the title of the property is in the name of the individuals and yet it is regulated by the state, the system is fascism. The use and disposal of the property. i.e. the ownership, is according to the state's laws. In these two categories, the society is the good by which all laws are justified, so they are both forms of socialism.

Statist systems divide in other ways too: If the state is a kingdom, then it is a monarchy. In this case, the king's will is the justification for laws that he decrees. If the state is a church/religion, it is a theocracy and it is God's will that is the justification for laws the church leaders decree.

Finally there is a mixture of freedom and statism known as the welfare state. This unstable system moves toward full-fledged fascism or, at some point when it is clear that it is not working, it frees up, at least for awhile.

Democracy is not a political system at all although it is bandied about as if it were. A democracy is a state which uses a systematic means of legitimizing power by the vote of the citizens. Without a Constitution (i.e., a specific set of rights, government structure and rules) in the background, a democracy would be meaningless except possibly as a distraction to keep the masses mollified.

Another current term is "progressivism." A "progressive" is a person who thinks that the government should "progress" society according to a particular purpose or values. Having government do this means that it will be done by force and thus a progressive is a fascist by another name. The origin of this term is at the beginning of the 20th century. Woodrow Wilson was the first fascist/progressive president.