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Thread: The Answer is Freedom

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    The Answer is Freedom


    The Answer is Freedom

    By Thomas Ravenel - October 16, 2014

    The two major political parties often speak loftily of “freedom.” Republicans talk about economic liberty while neglecting to mention personal freedom; Democrats talk about personal liberty with nary a word about economic freedom. Why aren’t both parties consistent across the board?

    The Declaration of Independence states that we are endowed by our creator with rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This phrase is based on natural law, which predates all government. Government was formed to secure those natural rights as individuals would determine them – so long as we do not violate the equal rights of others through force or fraud – not as government would dictate them to us.

    Our founding fathers based our Declaration of Independence on these self-evident truths and wrote a Constitution enumerating those truths. Because our founders possessed the wisdom to make freedom a cornerstone of our Constitution, America has been blessed with a prosperity far beyond what our forefathers could ever have imagined.

    Some believe that the Constitution is a “living document” that must, in the words of former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, “draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.” Contrary to Justice Brennan, I believe that the virtue of the Constitution is that it is NOT changeable.

    The purpose of our Constitution is to protect the individual from democracy, which is nothing more than a tyranny of the majority. Individual rights are under constant assault from this tyrannical majority. For example, various factions in Congress can assemble a 50% plus one majority that obliterates the freedoms of a minority of citizens. The only check on this erosion of individual rights is the Constitution.

    Unfortunately, the judiciary – the branch of our government tasked with reviewing the laws enacted by the legislature and enforced by the executive to ensure that they are in line with our Constitution – too often defers to Congress when interpreting our laws rather than first determining if authority for a given law exists in the Constitution.

    Republicans often complain that activist liberal judges legislate from the bench by interpreting laws in a way that deviates from Congress’ intent. This is where Republicans miss the mark. They want the Supreme Court to defer to what legislators want, many of whom are only concerned with what the special interest groups who line their campaign coffers desire. Instead, Republicans should insist that the judiciary defer to the original intent of the Constitution, as amended, as the founders intended.

    Our founding fathers wisely created an independent judiciary – one that was to be free from partisan politics. As it stands today, however, the justices’ desire to be popular among legislators has trumped the necessity of protecting the individual from an onslaught of legislation that reduces our liberty. The Supreme Court has thus shirked its duty.

    Now, the verdict is in. After decades of the judiciary treating our Constitution as a “living document,” we have an out-of-control regulatory state and rampant overspending that threatens to bankrupt our beloved country and leave future generations awash in a sea of debt. The Republican brand has lost its lustre, tarnished by the oxymoronic philosophy of “big government conservatism.”

    The purpose of my campaign is to question the currently accepted principles of the so-called conservative movement in an effort to expose its failures, reinvigorate respect for our founding documents and bring us back to the original intent of of the Constitution as amended by the Bill of Rights. By building a movement of likeminded lovers of liberty, I hope to be a part of our country’s second major struggle for independence – one that pits the people against our own out-of-control government.

    -T.R. 10/16/14

    http://thomasravenel.com/the-answer-is-freedom/
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
    "Beware the Military-Industrial-Financial-Pharma-Corporate-Internet-Media-Government Complex." - B4L update of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
    "Debt is the drug, Wall St. Banksters are the dealers, and politicians are the addicts." - B4L
    "Totally free immigration? I've never taken that position. I believe in national sovereignty." - Ron Paul

    Proponent of real science.
    The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not represent this forum or any other entities or persons.



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  3. #2
    This is a well written and cogent article. But what's with the title? This is about how to preserve our freedom, not why we should. If 'The Answer is Freedom' (and I believe it is), what is the question?

    I think we are well prepared, as a group, to suggest good strategies to restore and preserve our freedom. What is needed now is a public desire for that freedom. What is needed now is a great emphasis not so much on the fact that freedom is the answer, but on just how many of our burning questions it is the answer to. The economy? Micromismanagement isn't helping, try freedom and prepare to thrive. Health care? Yes. Race? That. The Middle East? Can we still afford cheap oil?

    Freedom answers every question. But we have to show that, and prove that. While we try to defend freedom ourselves, we are guilty of the Folly of Micromismanagement. What we need to do is make people understand how the net effect of millions of people pursuing their own enlightened self-interests--freedom--is the cure for so many of the things that ail us, and that our road to hell is paved with nothing but good intentions that have been perverted by power mongers.

    Once we make people understand how useful freedom is, then hundreds of millions of Americans will figure out how to preserve, protect and defend it. That should be our focus.

    Our biggest problem is we think the value of freedom is self-evident. But this public schooled public isn't even very clear on what freedom is. Is freedom from fear and uncertainty really freedom? Never mind whether their efforts to remove fear and uncertainty from our lives leaves us with less or more. That's a valuable debate to have, but shouldn't be mistaken for the root of the problem. People today have a dim idea of the value of freedom because they have a dim idea of what the stuff really is. That's the root of the problem.
    Last edited by acptulsa; 10-16-2014 at 01:39 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We believe our lying eyes...



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