"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yeild, and government to gain ground."

- Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, Paris, 27 May 1788

Good Government Limits Itself

Many of us are upset because our federal and state governments are weighing us down with debt, wasteful spending  and corrupt legislation purchased by various special interest groups seeking a portion of the ever increasing government spending and power.   Whatever our political leanings might be, we should automatically be leery of any action that grants more power to the government and the more leery we should be the further away that government is from us.   Limited government is the principal upon which our nation was founded. The founders of our country were keenly aware that the more power that is granted to distant governments, the wider the doors are opened to corruption and the less freedom we have to take care of ourselves.

As a country we are failing to realize how much more we could do without the government if we focused instead our energies on the tremendous potential of true liberty.   We need to stop empowering politicians to be producers and salesmen of never ending legislation which suffocates liberty.  ENOUGH!  ENOUGH!  ENOUGH!   Let us educate ourselves and our children that liberty starts and ends with us as individuals and that by virtue and hard work, we will maximize the chances of leading happy and peaceful lives.  Let us not forget that the remaining liberties we enjoy today were secured by the willingness of our country’s founders to pledge their lives, fortunes and sacred honor with reliance on the protection of divine Providence - and let us not forget that a good number of them suffered tremendous persecution by those seeking to preserve the corrupt political power structure.  Let us not forget our soldiers throughout the history of our country who risked their lives, many of whom were injured or killed while protecting our liberty.  Most of our founders and soldiers did not sacrifice themselves for us so that we would elect politicians who do not understand liberty and the great responsibilities that come with it which at a bare minimum include not plunging the government into massive debt and not engaging in any military conflict without the deliberations wisely mandated by our constitution.

With a genuine understanding of liberty, so much is possible.   Historical data shows us that much more often than not politicians along with their cronies are mostly interested in government power than they are about earnestly serving the people and will often resort to saying almost anything to obtain the votes needed to acquire or retain power. There is extremely little that the government can do for us that we cannot do for ourselves.  For those who desire to tax the rich in order to help the poor, there is an effective way to do that without any legislation and that is to provide services or products that the rich need or desire and the rich will be eager to buy them or invest in them, and if we are not overburdened by a corrupt government, it will be easier to start such businesses and there will be that much more left over to help the poor.   If a corporation is acting irresponsibly, instead of passing more laws, do we not have the freedom to simply stop buying their products or services?  Today, contrary to what many think, harmful corporations thrive because of excessive government regulation and not the lack thereof.  We can regain the liberties that we have lost if we make the effort to understand our history.  Once we understand our past and the importance that liberty has in the development of our country, we will not easily fall prey to the empty promises of politicians who claim that they can help us by growing government.  Liberty is the path of real hope.