That’s a wonderful word, freedom. Here in America, we’re free to go where we please, say what we please, and even write what we please. Government has grown all out of proportion to what the Founder’s planned, and Washington D.C. has indeed become very oppressive. It makes on think of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration, which says,”…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive…it is the right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government…” The question is, who gives us our freedom? Does our freedom derive from government? The following are quotes from Chapter 47 of a book I wrote many years age, and which is now long out of print. The name of the book is, “I Hold These Truths,” and sometimes one can be found on Amazon or a used book store.
“Far too many people think government GIVES freedom, rather than taking it from them, as is the case. People with Red, White and Blue attitudes, rave about our freedoms, and thank government for them. This is totally wrong, and it is high time someone said so.
“Government is a cancer, growing unchecked. Remember “The Thing” in that old horror movie, that kept growing and eating everything in its path? The comparison to government is unavoidable. Government bureaucrats have two main goals. (1) Increase their power base by expanding the bureaucracy so they will rise as it expands, having newcomers under them, and (2) Make themselves appear necessary and indispensable.
A businessman increases his wealth and importance by increasing his efficiency, whereas a bureaucrat operates exactly the opposite. Bureaucracy expands itself at the expense of efficiency, resulting in less freedom, because as bureaucracy enlarges, government control over us grows.
“Our system of government lets voters decide who will represent them. Originally, in order to be able to vote, you had to be able to read and write. Voting was intended to be a privilege, not a duty. It has become a devout belief that voting is some sort of sacred, patriotic deed that must be performed. Voting is not desirable if you are stupid, illiterate, or unread, contrary to the common thought of today. If ignoramuses didn’t vote, it would be a service to their country, because they always vote for the candidate promising the most from the public treasury, guaranteeing eventual bankruptcy, and the worst possible office holders. The ignorant will always elect the ignorant.
“How is America helped by an ever larger proportion of voters being of the lower class? How is America aided by college kids invading the slums, getting people registered to vote? Their vote always cancels out an intelligent vote, which would be for a candidate against ever more government spending, and larger bureaucracy. When the poll tax was in effect, it meant that in order to vote, a voter generally had to pay a dollar or so to cover the cost of the election. A pittance that generally weeded out the non beneficial votes. The Supreme Court threw out the poll tax many years ago, unfortunately.
“I would prefer no one vote unless he or she had a job, could read and write, knew something about what they were voting for or against on election day. The literacy test for voters was also thrown out by the Supreme Court years ago, although I could never comprehend that decision either. Freedom coasts downhill into a slave state ever so much faster, now that more and more voters with no ability to think, read, write, or reason are added to voter lists. This is not patriotism, but self destruction, from which we will probably not recover.
“Freedom is not given by government and bureaucracy, but ravaged by them. If voters self-registered, they will have proven themselves to be good citizens. If it takes coercion for them to register and vote, they are not worthy of the privilege.”
My thoughts close to 20 years ago. That book has 90 chapters. Maybe I should quote from it more often. I’ll be here today, Friday, but not next week. Call my son Dave for service for the next week if you please, (1-888-436-7077), and by all means have a great weekend and week. We’ll be cruising down the west side of Mexico, and when we get back, Dave is going to take a week off. It is summer you know! I really do believe that the price correction is over, but my crystal ball broke yesterday, so I’m not at all certain.