Posts Tagged ‘individual freedom’
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
June 21st, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
For nearly six thousand years of recorded history man has been dominated by governments best described as regimental in nature. Only for a few fleeting moments in the past has individual man had anything to say concerning the restrictions leveled against him. Under an occasional benevolent monarchy or an unconcerned king man has, in rare instances, been left to himself. Even more rare were the instances when the people effectively, sometimes through persuasion and often by force, instituted monumental changes allowing individual freedom to flourish for a brief time. Such was the case in Athens, Rome, and Runnymede.
Freedom can be likened to a butterfly landing for a time here and there for a season as it passes through the centuries. It has been only the most cautious and perceptive peoples who have permitted it to remain with them long: hence their greatness. Until 1787 man did not know how to hold the butterfly, enticing it to remain with its miraculous gifts. The U.S. Constitution successfully caged the creature. Now its wonders are everywhere apparent, magnificent material things, plenty of food and unheard leisure, etc. No society upon the earth has been more greatly blessed. The last hundred years has brought such gifts to mankind that only the insane would have supposed possible 200 years ago. Truly America has become the land of kings and queens. This is the significance of the American Constitution: the capture of the fleeting butterfly, or individual liberty. But the creature remains ever able and willing to fly away at a moments notice should a thoughtless and non-appreciative generation open the door to its cage, no longer sensitive to the miraculous gifts its presence bestows. The one message the present generation has not seemed to grasp is that freedom can be lost. It does not remain with this society because it is obliged to do so or out of a sense of fondness or duty. It has no allegiance to any people or place. If unleashed it will flutter off to yonder destinations as easily as it touched down in our own. And the generation unleashing it will be left to deal with the consequences.
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June 14th, 2010
By Katie Pease
This is a clip from interview with Larry Grathwohl, a man who infiltrated the Weather Underground. This was an organization of far-left activists whose main goal was the overthrow of the United States government. Watch this video to hear what their chilling plans were for those who refused to denounce Capitalism and adapt to their new Communist way of life once their goals were accomplished.
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June 8th, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
The Constitution divided power between two separate but co-equal governing bodies: the states and the national government. This division is called federalism and is so important that the flow of power away from the people cannot be preserved without it. It is the concept that in most things the states are not subordinate to the national government but in fact immune from it.
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June 2nd, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
Media accounts of candidate activities and/or their public statements by themselves rarely give enough information to vote intelligently, and candidate debates, at least on the state, county, and city level, are poorly attended. One wonders if candidate charisma along with color, size, and number of signs displayed are not the most significant factors for most voters in making a selection.
However, many do wish to vote intelligently but may not know how to proceed. They first need to formulate a philosophical base that should go far deeper than the rhetoric of a political party. If I may be so bold to cite a personal example, my own base begins with my solid Christian background. Regardless of party or ideology, I want my public servants to emulate such solid values as honesty, integrity, morality, etc. I also would like to believe that when confronted with tough decisions they, like Washington and Lincoln, would not hesitate to ask God to illuminate their understanding.
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June 1st, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
A country ceases to remain a country when it ceases to protect its borders. The Roman Empire ceased to exist for that very reason, coupled with moral decay.
Two places in the Constitution reference the need to protect our borders: the Preamble identifies as a purpose of the federal government to “provide for the common defense” and Article IV requires that they ”protect each of them (the states) against invasion.” With more than half a million illegals crossing the border a year, this is an invasion, and the federal government is not doing its job. Too many people who are totally ignorant of their governing document want to weigh in on this issue. Fortunately, Arizonians understand. Arizona did not make illegal immigration illegal, the federal government did.
The new bill, “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” is the direct result of the Federal Government not protecting its citizens from invasion. It has nothing to do with race or any other subject. It has to do with enforcing an already existing law. It simply codifies federal law into state law. If the feds won’t protect us, the state government will. Thank you Arizona for protecting our Constitution, and other states should follow.
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May 24th, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
As the federal government grows and becomes ever more intrusive on our liberties, more people then ever before are looking to the Constitution to save us. Of particular interest is the list of the things the federal government is entitled to do, identified in Section 8.
During this time in history, the colonies had just rejected Parliament’s attempt to gain more power over them; in fact the cause of the American Revolution was excessive government. As a result, the states knew they needed to handcuff the federal government so that unrestrained government could never happen again. In the Constitutional Convention they decided to only forfeit specific powers to the federal government, and those powers were things that the states agreed that they could not reasonably do themselves. All areas not mentioned were to remain with the states.
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May 19th, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
I am thrilled that Nancy Pelosi finally understands the need to politicize the churches. Actually they played a major role in bringing on the American Revolution as they, from the pulpit, encouraged their parishioners to actively advocate liberty. With respect to liberty, the loss of such has proceeded to the point that today you are either a part of the problem or part of the solution. Ministers, this is the Second American Revolution, using words rather than muskets for now. Your people need to be encouraged to stand up for freedom while they still can. In most revolutions Christians are among the first victims.
Now Nancy, illegal immigrants are those whose first act in America is to break the very laws that you helped create, thereby defying what you do. That is why they are called “illegal.” I hope the ministry also points this out to their people. And Nancy, I hope that you never criticize the Christian Coalition or any other group that advocates the restoration of Christian values in our schools such as prayers, or symbols, or express themselves with signs in California that express a conservative viewpoint, such as advocating against gay marriage or abortion. Should you do so, be prepared to be called a first class hypocrite.
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May 17th, 2010
By Dr. Harold Pease
There are only two reasons for the enumeration mandated by the Constitution every ten years that we now call the census: determining the number of representatives needed for a given area, and directing federal taxes. Constitutionally there is but one legitimate question: how many people live in this residence? With the House of Representatives based upon population the first reason is obvious. But the second reason expired when the 16th Amendment to the Constitution introduced the infamous income tax.
Today three columns of invasive questions now fill 28 pages of information that you would not share with your neighbors. With respect to housing they want to know what kind of building you live in, when it was built, how many rooms, your mortgage, taxes, insurance and utility costs, and move-in date. They also want to know how many automobiles are kept on the premises.
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May 17th, 2010
By Katie Pease
Here is the health reform bill (H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) in it’s glorious entirety. If you find yourself with a spare 200 hours (that’s 8 days of reading non-stop if you’re a fairly rapid reader), dive in and have fun. Otherwise, take a few minutes each day to chip away and discover the wonders of this bill. After all, as Nancy Pelosi so eloquently said, we’ll have to “read the bill to find out what’s in it.”
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Tags: american constitution, Candidate, constitution, federalism, fleeting moments, harold pease, history man, individual freedom, king man, liberty, May, miraculous gifts, monumental changes, need, party, rare instances, result, revolution, state, U S Constitution Posted in activism, nation | No Comments »
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Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Judge Andrew Napolitano
Texas Conservative Coalition
10th Amendment Town Hall
Tags: 10th Amendment, 1st amendment, amendment, andrew, bargain, Bill Of Rights, citizen, Coalition, Conservative, conservative coalition, Conservatives, Hall, individual freedom, Jeffersonian principles, Judge, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Law, liberty, Napolitano, Natural, new, revolution now, state rights, TCC, Texas, texas politics, the constitution, Town, Town Hall Posted in Laws, The soon to be former USA, activism, laws/politics, nation, video, world | No Comments »
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Sunday, February 7th, 2010
by Timothy Baldwin
The financial system our federal government created in 1913 and thereafter maintained has created nothing but iron chains around the hands, feet and necks of the states of America. Unfortunately, most Americans do not understand the unconstitutionality and dangers of this system (mostly because of a lot of brainwashing over the years). When politics begin to affect the wallet, however, many Americans all of a sudden become politically active and “righteously” indignant. This sadly reveals that principles of truth are not priority. But if a person even cares about America’s history, principles of freedom as accepted by our forefathers or the natural and revealed laws of God, he has to admit that one of the most fundamental elements of freedom is financial freedom. These fundamentals confirm the right of individuals to work in exchange for other items contracted for by the engaged parties, to reap all the benefits and rewards of his labor, skill and intellect without the unjust or unauthorized interference of anyone else, including government. Our Declaration of Independence categorizes this natural right as the “pursuit of happiness,” meaning property, which money certainly is.
Despite financial freedom being considered a natural right, our federal government has ignored this right and principle of freedom; and today, it controls virtually every aspect of money, starting with money’s very creation (i.e. printing) through the inaptly-named, Federal Reserve System (created in 1913 by Congress). But the idea of this system did not come from our forefathers. In fact, based upon the principles of individual freedom, self-government and limited government, our founders rejected the federal government’s power to print money by giving only this power to Congress in Article 1, Section 8: “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.” Moreover, States agreed (by ratification of the U.S. Constitution) that they would only be limited as follows relevant to money and currency: “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Since 1913, the federal government has been perpetually acting unconstitutionally; and today, States are forced to violate the U.S. Constitution and accept fiat money as tender in payments of debts.
Even a shallow scan of America’s history reveals that our founders and ratifiers considered the constitution to be worth nothing more than fire starter if Congress had the power to print money and create a fiat monetary system. Consider of a few of our founders’ position on the money system we have had since 1913 (citing from, George Bancroft, History of the United States of America: From the Discovery of the Continent [to 1789], Volume 6, [New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1890], 301–303) (Emphasis added):
“[George] Mason of Virginia had a MORTAL HATRED TO PAPER MONEY.”
“[The ratification of the U.S. Constitution] is a favorable moment to shut and bar the door against paper money, which can in no case be necessary. THE POWER MAY DO HARM, NEVER GOOD. Give the government credit, and other resources will offer. “(Oliver Ellsworth)
“PAPER MONEY CAN NEVER SUCCEED WHILE ITS MISCHIEFS ARE REMEMBERED; and, as long as it can be resorted to, it will be a bar to other resources.” (James Wilson).
“Rather than give the power [to congress to emit bills] I WOULD REJECT THE WHOLE PLAN [of the Constitution].” (John Langdon)
“[Under the ratified version of the U.S. Constitution], THE PRETEXT FOR A PAPER CURRENCY, and particularly for making the bills a tender, either for public or private debts, WAS CUT OFF.” (James Madison)
“[Nathanial] Gorham favored STRIKING THE WORDS [in the Constitution, allowing Congress to “EMIT BILLS”] without a prohibition inserted in the document, feeling that if the words were to stand, this could lead to the issuance of paper money.”
“Pierce Butler remarked that paper money was a legal tender in no other country in Europe, and he wanted to DISARM THE GOVERNMENT OF SUCH POWER.”
“George Read stated that if the words [and emit bills] were not struck, IT WOULD BE AS ALARMING AS THE MARK OF THE BEAST IN REVELATION.”
“This is the interpretation of the [Article 1, Section 8] clause…History cannot name a man who has gained enduring honor by causing the issue of paper money.” Ibid., 303. Contradicting these sound lessons and mandates of human history, the U.S. Constitution and natural law (meaning, the value of commercial exchange should have actual value, not pretend value), the federal government has for nearly 100 years operated under a fiat financial system, printing money out of thin air, being backed by nothing of substance, increasing the federal debt, causing inflation, decreasing the value of our contracted-for work, diminishing our future investments, and jeopardizing the lives of millions (just to name a few). Do you think that a country is living in freedom when this takes place?!
The very implementation and structure of the Federal Reserve System is corrupt, considering the most basic principles of a free society, as it puts the power of the fiat money market into the control of a few unelected and uncontrolled people. The danger of this system was recognized immediately by financial experts after its implementation. Consider what Professor John Holdsworth observes in 1914: “It is obvious that a board clothed with such powers can exercise an enormous influence either for good or ill upon the new system. Success or failure…will depend largely upon their ability, wisdom, and tact.” John Thom Holdsworth, Money and Banking, 6th Edition, (New York: Appleton, 1914), 353. Is the definition of “oligarchy” coming to mind?
The creation of our Constitutional Republic was to place the power of securing individual natural rights under the constraints of a fixed constitution into the hands of many who would be affected by its abuse: that is, the people and their agents! The federal system was entirely a check and balance upon all powers in the federal government: checks by the people directly, checks by the other branches of federal government, checks by time itself and checks by the state governments. Yet, the Federal Reserve System literally removes one of the most fundamental natural rights (property) from the control, oversight and power of the people and of their closest representatives (Congress and the State governments). America’s monetary system is without a doubt despicable, unnatural, fraudulent and dangerous.
So, what is our federal government going to do about it? What have they done since 1913? Nothing! I believe we can say with certainty they will continue their legacy. Sure, we know Congressman Ron Paul (and maybe a few others) has attempted to make a difference in this area (See, H.R. 4683, The Free Competition in Currency Act of 2007). God bless him for his lone-wolf efforts. However, even with a Republican-controlled federal government from 2000 to 2008, nothing has been done to bring the Federal Reserve into accountability and responsibility, much less to termination–all this after nearly 100 years of this corrupt system being woven into the fabric of our states and even the entire world. We can say with assurance that putting our hope in the federal government to control the monster it has created is misplaced. It is disgusting how the federal government usurps the delegations and trusts of its power, violates the principles and limitations of the constitution, does nothing to reverse the usurpations and expressly revert these powers back to the states and the people. Still, every year, they expect that we vote for them and look to Washington D.C. for the answers to our problems. What a racket of tyranny! Yet, most take the bait. I would not trust them with taking caring for my dog.
There is, however, an alternative solution–one that our founders expected in cases of federal usurpations: the STATES. What has to be concluded here is that since the federal government does not possess the power to create this fiat system, it of course has acted unconstitutionally since 1913, depriving individuals, the people and the states of the powers they retained under the ninth and tenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Being sovereign, the states have the power to do what their constitutions give them power to do in this regard. As a result, the States must take courage to use of their inherent sovereignty: they must be energized by the force of truth, the fire of freedom and the passion of the people. The state governments must recognize this: we, who demand justice, demand that our states retake powers that rightly belong to us, terminate powers that have wrongly been usurped by tyrants, and create within our borders a free and independent system of finance and commerce.
The States must recognize and proclaim once again that,
“Paper money has no hold, and from its very nature can acquire no hold, on the conscience or affections of the people. It impairs all certainty of possession, and taxes none so heavily as the class who earn their scant possession by daily labor. It injures the husbandman by a twofold diminution of the exchangeable value of his harvest. It is the favorite of those who seek gain without willingness to toil; it is the deadly foe of industry. No powerful political party ever permanently rested for support on the theory that it is wise and right. No statesman has been thought well of by his kind in a succeeding generation for having been its promoter.” Bancroft, History of the United States of America, 304.
Freedom for a Change
Until the States become capable of monetarily sustaining themselves as sovereign states are supposed to, the federal government has nothing but incentive to keep the States enslaved to a worthless, fiat system of slavery, which only feeds the power of the federal government with each print of a fiat dollar bill. When the States become monetarily strong and independent, hope for financial freedom will once again return to our States. The question is, which States are willing to protect freedom for their citizens.
Tim Baldwin is an attorney who received his Juris Doctor degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a former felony prosecutor for the Florida State Attorney’s Office and now owns his own private law practice. He is author of a soon-to-be-published new book, entitled FREEDOM FOR A CHANGE. Tim is also one of America’s foremost defenders of State sovereignty. See his website.
Copyright (c) 2010 Timothy Baldwin
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Tags: america, Appleton, congress, Congressman Ron Paul, Constitutional Republic, D. Appleton, elements of freedom, Europe, Federal Reserve System, Fiat, financial freedom, fundamental elements, George, George Bancroft, George Read, God, government, H.R, history, individual freedom, iron chains, James Madison, James Wilson, John Langdon, John Thom Holdsworth, mark, MAY DO, money, New York, nothing, Oliver Ellsworth, paper, Pierce Butler, power, Professor John Holdsworth, Pursuit Of Happiness, system, Timothy Baldwin, U S Constitution, United States Of America, value, Virginia, Washington, weights and measures Posted in activism, nation | No Comments »
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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
by Josh Eboch
For all their professed love of reason and logic, libertarians can be damned unreasonable sometimes. Consider this post from the blog Live Oaks on the supposed injustice of the Tenth Amendment:
Glenn Beck… recently made a statement on his radio show that the states have a right to institute universal health care, hand out free cars, etc. if the citizens of that state want such things. He stated that the federal government is barred from such actions, but the states are not. In other words, he is not opposed to violating individual rights; he just wants it done on a more local level.
This is a typical approach by conservatives… They do not challenge the premise that the individual must be forced to sacrifice for the “common good”–they merely want to argue over who will make that determination.
…This isn’t a defense of individual rights; it is an invitation for the states to establish fifty separate tyrannies.
I will be the first to admit that Glenn Beck is very confused about some aspects of liberty and federalism (particularly involving Abraham Lincoln), but he has this part exactly right.
Unfortunately, the fear of local despotism is a common and misguided complaint of libertarian opponents to the Tenth Amendment movement. Many of them seem to think that because certain people in certain states might favor programs that run counter to the philosophy of individual liberty, the entire system of divided sovereignty that was put in place by America’s founders should be scrapped.
But, if they refuse to trust home rule and it’s obvious the current system is a disaster, these libertarians would leave us with nothing more than the vague hope of some spontaneous and radical shift in public consciousness.
That, or the rise of some benevolent dictator willing to impose his or her vision of individual freedom nationally from D.C., whether the voters want it or not.
Which, as a political strategy, is nothing short of absurd. It often takes more than well-reasoned theory to change someone’s mind, and it always takes power to impose someone’s will, even if that will is liberty.
Unless the people demand their freedom from the bottom up, by gaining control over their local and state governments, the corruptible power that must be centralized in order to enact (and enforce) a liberty agenda from the top down would no doubt immediately be co-opted for something completely different.
In fact, it is a fundamental flaw of otherwise good constitutionalists like Ron Paul that they even seek the presidency; an increasingly imperial office that should be castrated through neglect, not further aggrandized.
It is precisely because ignorant or malicious voters so often support government-sponsored looting of their neighbors that decentralized power is critical. Human beings are flawed, and even with the best of intentions may engage in behavior that is irrational or dishonest. However, the smaller the geographic or economic area that can be affected by a single misguided administration or policy, the more likely it is that enough citizens can be educated and motivated to fix the problem.
Or that they can physically relocate their tax dollars to a more suitable environment.
The entire point of freedom is to protect the right of someone else to do something you think is stupid, or even wrong. Otherwise, when the winds of popular opinion shift, who will protect your right to do the same?
That holds true for individuals composing units of government as well. We must respect one another enough as Americans to allow the citizens of each sovereign state to decide for themselves the size and scope of government they desire.
Those states that choose wisely will prosper, while those that choose poorly will suffer the consequences, and have to learn from their mistakes or perish.
Based on what we know about the free market, it is simply not credible to claim that decentralizing the federal government’s current power monopoly through the Tenth Amendment would turn America into 50 isolated tyrannies or fifedoms.
In reality, spurred on by the information revolution, a return to robust federalism would quickly unleash the cleansing forces of market competition on our stagnant political economy. And what libertarian could argue with that?
Josh is a proud “tenther”, freelance writer, and activist originally from the Washington, D.C. area. He is a blogger for TAC’s Tenther Grapevine and the State Chapter Coordinator for the Virginia Tenth Amendment Center.
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Tags: Abraham Lincoln, amendment, america, Beck, benevolent dictator, D.C., free cars, FREEDOM, Glenn Beck, government, individual freedom, Josh, Josh Eboch, liberty, Post, power, public consciousness, right, ron paul, someone, state, Tenth, Tenth Amendment, typical approach, universal health care, vague hope, Washington Posted in Laws, The soon to be former USA, activism, mainstream media, nation | No Comments »
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Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Once strong and prosperous and known as a refuge for those fleeing tyranny, America appears to be on the wrong “track”. Now, our freedoms are disappearing and our prosperity waning because of our departure from the principles on which all this liberty and prosperity was built.
The American Way – is unlike any other and if we are to remain free and prosperous, we must return to those principles upon which this nation was founded
One definition of Hell is “the impossibility of reason”. Without a basis in a set of immutable, constant principles and truths, there is no basis for reason. Therefore, when we abandon the very principles upon which this nation was founded, we have thrown out all logic, all reasoning for the very being of our nation and we condemn ourselves to statist hell, for the foundations of our country are those that guarantee individual freedom, they are the principles of liberty. – Anonymous
One main reason why America was free and prosperous – wasn’t because of government, but rather was from what government was NOT allowed to do… That is the very definition of freedom. Now, government has inserted itself into every facet of our lives and has recently been referred to as the “source of our rights”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Governments bestow – and also revoke – what are defined as privileges. Privileges are not rights.
The proper role of government is to secure our God-given rights…
Tags: america, American Way, basis, CFR, communism, definition, definition of freedom, Dictatorship, facet, fascism, federal reserve, foundations, FREEDOM, Freedoms, Future, God, government, Hell, hell is the impossibility of reason, impossibility of reason, individual freedom, liberty, Morality, nation, Oligarchy, Prosperity, Quot, Reason, refuge, rights, role of government, Socialism, tyranny Posted in Laws, activism, nation | No Comments »
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