Freedom Under Siege

SUMMARY

Have We Lost Respect?

The twentieth century has not been kind to the principles of freedom. The U.S. Constitution sadly has lost essentially all its meaning. This document was intended to keep the government small and the individual important, but today we find the opposite; the government is all-powerful and individual liberty is on the wane and poorly understood. The Constitution was intended to restrain the power of government, being nothing more than a document of “Thou Shalt Nots.” The Founding Fathers intended to make the passage of laws and the imposition of taxes cumbersome and difficult, but today we find big government expands routinely with little restraint and no remorse.

The Anti-Federalists, who warned of the Constitution’s weaknesses were right. The concept of the role of government has dramatically changed over the past 200 years. Instead of the government’s being “we” and “us,” it is now, “them” and “they”. Most people assume the government is a source of material benefit and privilege, not an instrument to guarantee freedom for the individual. Instead of equal rights and equal justice, there now is merely competition in trying to avoid becoming a victim. The victimization is required to satisfy someone else’s preconceived notion of economic equity, equal opportunity, and equal distribution of the loot confiscated by government.

Instead of limited government’s guaranteeing our liberties, we have been given runaway government, runaway deficits, and runaway spending with great importance placed on the politicians and the power they wield in Washington and state legislatures. The ability of lobbyists is of much greater importance to the economic success of an individual or corporation than their ingenuity and ambition.

Government is totally out of control in its expansive role in our personal and business lives. The concept of rights has been completely muddled. Deficits are no longer frowned upon and have literally become a way of life, not only for our government but for corporations and individuals as well. Fiat money has become an accepted institution and a tool of the wealthy elite and the political establishment.

We have been following a run-a-muck foreign policy-designed to police the world, yet this policy has made us vulnerable and weak and does nothing for peace and safety for Americans. Fear of nuclear war is no longer a concern of the few. Our foreign policy is based on self-sacrifice of the American taxpayer and unrealistic idealism. The special interests of the military-industrial complex, the banking elite, and socialist dictators have controlled policy for practically the entire twentieth century. America’s interests have been ignored and the citizen’s rights trampled on. Wars now are being fought without declaration and without any intent to win.

During this same period of time, we have also lost respect for the spiritual value of human life. As Samuel Adams warned us, “Our manners have become universally corrupt.” We place relative value on life as we justify abortion and at the same time we place relative value on liberty, allowing our young innocent men to be drafted to fight no-win wars for the wealthy business and banking elite.

A truly free society, dedicated to maximum liberty for all, that ignores the important issue of all life, including fetal life, will have a difficult time defending its position on other matters. Failure to deal philosophically with the issue of a three-pound fetus inadvertently born alive during an abortion procedure and subsequently drowned by the abortionist will discredit the freedom movement.

A calloused attitude toward the unborn permits a calloused attitude toward the newborn, the elderly, and the deformed-as well as toward all principles of liberty. We should be neither surprised nor shocked that we hear frequent stories of newborns being thrown in ditches to die. Vocal support for infanticide and euthanasia is now common. We live in an age where child abuse is of epidemic proportions. Our emergency rooms are flooded with battered children, and the social philosophers search for the cause.

Some who talk of children’s rights fail to see the importance of life itself. In their search for perfect liberty, they mistakenly claim children have a right not to be subject to parental controls. Until it is recognized that all life is of the utmost importance, solving the problems of child abuse and defining children’s rights will be impossible.

Without this the erosion of liberty will continue. A careless attitude toward the sanctity of life can hardly prompt an energetic and intellectually acceptable defense of individual rights. No one I know, including those who accept abortion as an absolute right of the mother, relishes the horror of dismemberment of a small, but quite viable human life.

The Roe vs. Wade decision legalized abortion up until the day prior to birth. In the United States there are 120,000 late abortions (after three-month gestations) each year, even though there are 7,500 serious complications annually from this procedure. Since 1973 the maternal mortality rate for abortions after the fourth month has been higher than for childbirth.

Society’s attitude toward liberty is totally dependent on society’s respect for all life. This problem is more an ethical one than legal. No legislation or constitutional amendment can instill this very-much-needed respect for life. Samuel Adams was right that no law or constitution can solve our problems if “the manners of a society are universally corrupt.” A hardened attitude condoning and encouraging abortion will do great harm in undermining all our efforts to guarantee one’s absolute right to one’s own life.

We who promote libertarian ideas are proud of our high moral standard regarding non-aggression. These same standards must apply to all life as well as to all liberty.

Even if we resent the use of government to resolve this dilemma, it is nevertheless imperative that our respect for all human life -- small as well as large --whether in the womb or in the crib -- is clearly expressed. A society that does not recognize the special value of all human life cannot survive. Compassion for the truly unfortunate, the weak, the infirm, and those who cannot defend themselves because of size or age is a characteristic of a civilized society.

If life has no spiritual value, what makes liberty worth preserving? If life itself is not very special, how can working for liberty be justified?

Historic Contest

The ongoing crisis to preserve liberty is truly an historic struggle of great proportion and is destined to worsen. The contest is clearly between those who advocate individual liberty and those who indiscriminately use government power for their own benefit. Although this battle between liberty and government force is ages old, it is once again currently of vital importance.

The competitive forces clearly show that there is an ongoing struggle between those acting in self-interest with responsibility and those who, through government action, would control others for reasons of personal gain, personal ego, or misdirected benevolence. It is a contest between self-reliance and that of dependency, security, and the use of other men’s productive efforts-a battle that literally is as old as recorded history.

The convictions of our Founding Fathers were strong enough for them to take on the British, while today the abuse of power by our own government, although far worse than that of the King, prompts little action.

History has given us periods of stability with both relative freedom and relative slavery. When conditions exist where there is more slavery than freedom, we have experienced stagnation. When there has been relative freedom, as certainly there has been during the existence of the United States, there has been moderate growth and prosperity.

Although agitation and discontent can smolder for long periods, eventually the contest between those who are enslaved and those who would enslave others explodes as does a dormant volcano. The conditions for violent revolution vary from generation to generation. Many ingredients other than the length of time of calmness determine when events lead to more violent and radical changes. They include prevailing ideas, determination of the leaders, the nature of the enemy, the ruthlessness of those in power, the ability to mobilize large numbers of people, and the emotional appeal of the leaders.

The convictions of our Founding Fathers were strong enough for them to take on the British, while today the abuse of power by our own government, although far worse than that of the King, prompts little action. The patriotic citizens of colonial days brought about a major revolution with a positive change in favor of individual freedom -- a unique episode of man’s history and something that ought to be duplicated again.

Today’s oppression is entrenched and a great threat, but is nevertheless tolerated by most Americans. The numbers of those who are resentful of government’s abuse are growing, and this is a positive sign. The country’s wealth is being consumed, and when it is clear that we are once again a poor nation, general resentment will emerge among the people. A recent study has predicted a million homeless by the year 2000. Failure to regain respect and understanding for individual rights will lead to violence.

Although the kettle of agitation is simmering, it is not yet boiling. The fires of discontent are not going to be turned off but are destined to be fueled by compounding political and economic errors. Freedom itself is at stake. In spite of the crisis, there are great opportunities for the friends of freedom to change things for the better. There are great dangers if we are not organized; there is a great risk if plans are not laid. We cannot succeed without a philosophic commitment to freedom and we cannot organize without dynamic leadership. People must have hope, and this hope must outweigh the feeling of desperation. It must be understood that the need for revolutionary change need not be violent.

Tenacity of Power

Today’s simmering economic, social, and political problems will eventually boil over. The contest will eventually be clear to everyone. Big government advocates will spare no abuse, no resources, no cost, no tricks, no force in order to maintain the status quo of state power.

Statism itself will be at stake and those in power will feel threatened. They will easily win unless the determination of we who love freedom is superior to the desires of those in charge to cling to their power.

Everyone has a role to play. The segment of society that is philosophically committed to big government will be tenacious in their endeavors as they see themselves in a death struggle.

The many who are complacent about conditions around them will be the largest group and will be the bellwether of the apparent success of the two major factions. Some of these will go with the winners, some will go with the most vocal leaders, and some will go with the group they think will best provide for what they see is in their best interest in the nature of security. Complete complacency is an act in itself in that it is the absence of action that will permit one or the other faction to win. The masses are important, but never lead, and they need only to be convinced and guided.

Friends of freedom must quickly assemble and plan strategy. Everyone has a vital interest in the outcome. Broad agreements are crucial; arguing minute details of solutions to difficult problems can undermine the movement and become purely negative. Perfection by man in the struggle for freedom is not achievable. Denial of personality differences and legitimate differences of opinion are a mistake. Refusing to agree on generalized and precise principles guarantees failure.

It is possible for some who claim kinship to the freedom movement to inadvertently serve the statists by undermining the important work on which we can agree. Agreeing on the libertarian principal of nonaggression is worthwhile. Demanding that everyone agree on every single cent in the defense budget is nonproductive. Human beings are imperfect, and no one person or collective wisdom of anybody or body of persons can produce perfect solutions. Intellectual collectivism should not replace a single person’s individuality to think for himself and defend freedom while agreeing on broad principles.

Once one is committed and has chosen a side, the obligation to act is clear. Efforts must be educational, political, organizational, and financial. Each of us can use one or all of these tools to promote the cause of freedom.

Clearly the fundamental flaw of the twentieth century has been our loss of love for freedom and self-reliance while accepting the use of government to promote special interest in the name of individual rights. This low regard for the principles of freedom has promoted the political economic crisis in which we find ourselves. A precise plan is crucial to our survival and mandates that all of us join in this historic opportunity to restate the principles of freedom.

Vision of a Free Society

A truly free society is one that offers the greatest hope for peace and prosperity. The moral defense of the individual’s right to life and liberty associated with the prosperity that can only come from a free market makes it easy to defend. However, the marketing of this ideal has not been successful.

A totally free market, operating with a sound currency, should delight everyone. The thought of no record-keeping for the government, paying no personal or corporate income taxes, should thrill every citizen.

Yet this is what was intended by the Founding Fathers. It’s only a twentieth-century phenomenon to be involved in keeping and making available to the government unbelievable amounts of financial information -- and then having it used against us without due process of law.

Sound money, no Federal Reserve, no business cycle, no inflation, low interest rates, high savings rates, trust in the future value of the money, capital accumulation! What a delight it would be to have an end to the confiscation of wealth through monetary debasement and once again see the reindustrialization of the United States. Instead of the government’s being the counterfeiter, it would enforce the laws against counterfeiting of paper money.

In a free and prosperous society, labor shortages would be the problem, not unemployment. Instead of aliens being resented, they would be welcomed to serve our needs as our standard of living increases. What a delight it would be to see the reversal of our declining standard of living, which has been occurring over the past sixteen years. This can only come about by freeing the marketplace and introducing sound money.

A free society guarantees freedom of movement and, above all, absolute privacy. Moving our wealth in and out of the country would be of no concern to the government. Complete privacy guarantees individual liberty. Our personal lifestyles, as well as our religious lifestyles would be our business and ours alone. Instead of the governments forcing contracts on us and breaking those they make with us, the government would help enforce the contracts to which we voluntarily agree.

A free society offers the greatest chance for world peace. Free movement of people, goods, and ideas across borders makes a lot more sense than the uncontrolled sale and transfer of weapons across borders. A policy of neutrality and friendship to all makes a lot more sense than subsidies to our sworn enemies and our rich allies. Financing both sides of all the battles around the world, as we have been doing for the past forty years, must come to an end.

Free markets, sound money, balanced budgets, no income tax, civil liberties, and nonintervention in the internal affairs of other nations is the road to peace and prosperity.

How can the American people reject it?