What If You Were A Good King?
“Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.” ― Ron Paul
Rarely if ever, has a politician - not a President, Governor, or even Senator, but a lowly Congressman left such an indelible mark on the political landscape as has Ron Paul as he brings his tenure to a end! Dubbed 'Dr. No' early on by colleagues for refusing to support bills that run afoul of the constitution - often being sole dissenter, Ron Paul stood his ground, steadfastly opting for principle over popularity. In today's world of disposable principles, he is a real anachronism, the exception that proves the rule. You won't find any legislation piloted under his name and many will remember only his two failed attempts in presidential primaries but this evergreen warrior has been proven right time and again in his warnings of financial devastation due to centralized planning and the perils of never-ending wars!
Many years ago a remote colonial outpost of the British Empire rebelled against a government which had grown to be oppressive and tyrannical, divorcing themselves via a Declaration of Independence! Within the brilliantly-crafted document, Thomas Jefferson opined as follows: "..to secure these rights (previously identified as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), 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.". 236 years later, the descendants of those early settlers seem to have forgotten Jefferson's adage that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" and that tyranny often comes from sources closer to home!
Our most precious gift, bestowed upon humankind by a loving Creator, is that of liberty - or free will! Yet, every day fearful humans give up this divine birthright, foolishly trusting it will make them safe. Instead they find themselves drawn more tightly into a web of control, from which there is no escape. Ron Paul's message is a warning that the continued encroachment of State power will end in tyranny. In the end we either overcome our desire to control others, embracing liberty or face self-destruction!
Founder Benjamin Franklin famously warned: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both..."! Today's America would be unrecognizable to those who shed blood to champion the cause of freedom. People are put in prison for substances they elect to put into their own bodies, air travelers are forced to choose between radiation or molestation, unborn generations are burdened with unpayable debts not of their making, demise seems inevitable!
20th century sage Ezra Pound wrote: “a slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.”! In today's dumbed-down society, grown increasingly reliant upon others to make decisions for them, the majority continues to look anywhere but in the mirror for the hero who will come to their rescue!
Founder John Adams said: "Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts & murders itself."! Equating democracy with freedom and increasing worship of the State seals the fate of the majority. Ron Paul's message now stands like a beacon amidst the treacherous shoals - will we heed it in time?
Many years ago a remote colonial outpost of the British Empire rebelled against a government which had grown to be oppressive and tyrannical, divorcing themselves via a Declaration of Independence! Within the brilliantly-crafted document, Thomas Jefferson opined as follows: "..to secure these rights (previously identified as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), 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.". 236 years later, the descendants of those early settlers seem to have forgotten Jefferson's adage that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" and that tyranny often comes from sources closer to home!
Our most precious gift, bestowed upon humankind by a loving Creator, is that of liberty - or free will! Yet, every day fearful humans give up this divine birthright, foolishly trusting it will make them safe. Instead they find themselves drawn more tightly into a web of control, from which there is no escape. Ron Paul's message is a warning that the continued encroachment of State power will end in tyranny. In the end we either overcome our desire to control others, embracing liberty or face self-destruction!
Founder Benjamin Franklin famously warned: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both..."! Today's America would be unrecognizable to those who shed blood to champion the cause of freedom. People are put in prison for substances they elect to put into their own bodies, air travelers are forced to choose between radiation or molestation, unborn generations are burdened with unpayable debts not of their making, demise seems inevitable!
20th century sage Ezra Pound wrote: “a slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.”! In today's dumbed-down society, grown increasingly reliant upon others to make decisions for them, the majority continues to look anywhere but in the mirror for the hero who will come to their rescue!
Founder John Adams said: "Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts & murders itself."! Equating democracy with freedom and increasing worship of the State seals the fate of the majority. Ron Paul's message now stands like a beacon amidst the treacherous shoals - will we heed it in time?
The Five Threats To Freedom
Ron Paul's farewell message to America: Embrace liberty or face self-destruction
Saturday, November 17, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) Ron Paul's recent farewell speech is arguably the single most important speech in American history. Dr. Paul lays out the fatal problems facing America while pulling no punches. This speech is a must-read piece by anyone who seeks to understand the real reasons why America remains in a downward spiral of social and economic failure under the endless growth of Big Government and runaway debt.
Here's the full text:
This may well be the last time I speak on the House Floor. At the end of the year I'll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36 year period. My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty.
It was my opinion, that the course the U.S. embarked on in the latter part of the 20th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security.
To achieve the goals I sought, government would have had to shrink in size and scope, reduce spending, change the monetary system, and reject the unsustainable costs of policing the world and expanding the American Empire.
The problems seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to solve, yet from my view point, just following the constraints placed on the federal government by the Constitution would have been a good place to start.
How Much Did I Accomplish?
In many ways, according to conventional wisdom, my off-and-on career in Congress, from 1976 to 2012, accomplished very little. No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highways -- thank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive, and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues. Wars are constant and pursued without Congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history.
All this with minimal concerns for the deficits and unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer. A grand, but never mentioned, bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept secret that keeps the spending going. One side doesn't give up one penny on military spending, the other side doesn't give up one penny on welfare spending, while both sides support the bailouts and subsidies for the banking and corporate elite. And the spending continues as the economy weakens and the downward spiral continues. As the government continues fiddling around, our liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes us less safe.
The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke. This has made compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side has any intention of cutting spending.
The country and the Congress will remain divisive since there's no "loot left to divvy up."
Without this recognition the spenders in Washington will continue the march toward a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one anticipated this coming January.
I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace- it should be an easy sell. Yet, history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled.
Authoritarianism vs. Liberty
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