This country -- the product of reason -- could not survive on the morality of sacrifice. It was not built by men who sought self-immolation or by men who sought handouts... It could not live by the mystic doctrine that damned this earth as evil and those who succeeded on earth as depraved. From its start, this country was a threat to the ancient rule of mystics. In the brilliant rocket-explosion of its youth, this country displayed to an incredulous world what greatness was possible to man, what happiness was possible on earth. It was one or the other: America or mystics. The mystics knew it; you didn't. You let them infect you with the worship of need -- and this country became a giant in body with a mooching midget in place of its soul, while its living soul was driven underground to labor and feed you in silence, unnamed. unhonored, negated, its soul and hero: the industrialist...
-- Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"
November 2008 Archives
As a constitutional conservative, I am generally disappointed with the gains the progressive Democrats have made in the U.S. Senate and House Of Representatives. I'm also disappointed that we are now faced with four years of leadership by Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Many of my online colleagues -- members of the "young geek" crowd -- were vocal advocates for Obama during the presidential campaign. I admire their conviction, dedication and involvement in a political campaign. Normally, I don't think they would pay that much attention to a presidential race, but because of the state the country is in and because Mr. Obama has proved to be attractive to young voters, there is an unusually strong sentiment for him in these young, technologically-aware voters.
The Obama campaign seemed to have run a much better Internet campaign than anyone ever before. Many lessons can be learned from this by all who hope or plan to participate in a political campaign in the future.
I'm not entirely upset republicans lost races. As a good friend of mine remarked, "The GOP needs to be benched for four years," to get their bearings.
Many political commentators have observed today's republicans are not the same as republicans from 20-30 years ago. My observation is republicans are generally a lot further left of conservative than they used to be. I suppose the same could be said about the democrats: They are also a lot further left than they used to be. Without a significant pull to th right, we are looking at a significant policy shift toward socialism.
Because of this, the Republican Party either needs to return to its conservative roots or we will need to create a new major conservative party to keep conservative interests represented.
The key to enacting a shift back toward the right, I believe, is education and study. For example, I've been involved with the Free Capitalist Project for the last several weeks and have found it to be an excellent step in the right direction.
There seems to be many organizations with similar values and goals. The trick will be getting many of these organizations to cooperate toward a common goal.
The first step, I believe, is helping more people to understand (or to become reaquainted) with some of the basics of the founding of our country.
Life, Liberty, Healthcare, Education, Bailouts, Income Protection, and the Pursuit of Happiness?!
Quoting from "The Law" by Frederic Bastiat:
"Life, ...liberty, property -- this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it. Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place."
"The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all."
Once you understand the rightful place for the government, or "the law," you will begin to see why our government is... well, askew.
Someone told me recently they felt it was the government's proper role to "improve our lives." That fallacy is a popular one, but it is a fallacy nonetheless. It is, however, the government's rightful place to protect your ability to improve your own life. That distinction is significant!
These fundamental principles were employed by those that penned their names on our Declaration of Independence in 1776 and participated in the writing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
I implore all those who read these words I've written to stop and ponder them. Read "The Law" yourself -- it's available for free from several sites in HTML or PDF formats and does an excellent job of explaining these things in a way that's easy to understand and digest.
